Nigeria Battles Uganda for Afrobasket Q’ finals Ticket

D’Tigers will file out today against Uganda in their quest to snatch a quarter final ticket at the 2021 FIBA Afrobasket Championship, in Kigali, Rwanda.

After narrowly failing to top their group on the back of a narrow last group loss to Côte d’Ivoire , Nigeria’s Senior men’s basketball team will square off against the third placed team in Group D for a quarter final berth.

Coach Mike Brown at the end of the team’s training session on Monday, charged D’Tigers to use their loss to Côte d’Ivoire as a learning curve when they step out against Uganda.

He advised the players to play as a cohesive unit while sticking to their plays against their East African opposition who are also in search of a rare quarter final ticket.

“To go through that experience as a group was really good for us. Hopefully it will help us in the next game and further if we win the next game. I am looking forward to the challenge and I think the guys are too”.

“We have to play harder for longer stretches than how we did against Côte d’Ivoire and we have to play together. They got up in our chest, they frustrated us and they were hard on us. It wasn’t an easy game for us which was different for our guys,” recalled Brown.

The team will be looking up to its captain, Stephen Domingo to rediscover his form after a sterling show in the first game against Mali where he scored 16pts, 5 rebounds and 2 assists.

Uzodinma Utomi and Benjamin Emelogu will also be playing a huge role in the playoff after a run of good games.