Nigeria Crashes Out Of AfroBasket After Loss To Uganda
The Nigeria senior men’s basketball team,D’Tigers, crashed out of the 2021 FIBA Afrobasket tournament after a 68-80 loss to Uganda at the Kigali Arena in Kigali, Rwanda.
The defending champions, Nigeria, finished second in Group C, and needed a win against Uganda to make the quarter-finals. Uganda finished the group phase as Group D’s third-placed team.
D’Tigers lost 12-24 and 19-20 in the first two quarters, and trailed by 13 points in the opening half.
After an 18-23 loss in the third quarter further worsened their situation to trail by 18 points, the Nigerians fought back to win the fourth quarter 19-13.
This was, however, a little too late as Uganda went away with a 12-point lead to advance into the competition’s quarter-finals where they will face Cape Verde on Thursday.
Nigeria’s top performer in the game against Uganda was Uzodinma Utomi. He scored 23 points, with three rebounds, two assists, one steal and two blocks. Andrew Edogi also had seven rebounds, and Ikenna Ndugba recorded six assists.
In other fixtures for a place in the quarter-finals, Angola beat Egypt 70-62 to book a Wednesday quarter-final meeting with Senegal.
Also, Guinea beat hosts Rwanda 72-68 to advance to a quarter-final where they will face Cote d’Ivoire on Wednesday.
Chidi Nwoke/NBBF.
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