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FIBA Africa has given Nigeria the last wildcard slot for the second AfroCan Basketball Championship in Angola from July 8 to 16.
Nigeria narrowly missed out on one of the automatic tickets to the championship after they lost to hosts Ivory Coast 74-65 in the combined FIBA Africa Zone 2 and 3 qualifiers in Abidjan Sunday night.
The final game of the qualifiers was riddled with bad calls against Nigeria. On several occasions, the head coach of D’Tigers, Ogoh Odaudu, had to confront the centre referee.
The first quarter ended 19-17 in favour of the hosts, while at half time it was 36-36, but the Ivorians opened a five-point lead at the close of the third quarter 56-51 before sealing the game at 74-65.
Nigeria finished the qualifiers with one win — a 78-51 win over Benin — after losing 65-62 to Guinea in their first game.
For finishing second in the qualifiers, FIBA Africa gave the final wildcard to Nigeria, who will play in the same group with hosts Angola and West African powerhouse Mali.
D’Tigers arrived Nigeria from Abidjan on Monday and will be camped in Lagos to continue their preparations for the tournament, which starts in less than a week.
