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Ebenezer Bajela
Nigeria’s national men’s basketball team, D’Tigers, suffered another defeat in their quest to qualify for the 2023 FIBA World Cup as they lose 67-70 to Angola in their Group E match at Palais des Sports de Treichville on Sunday, The PUNCH reports.
D’Tigers are vying to pick one of the five slots for African teams at the 2023 FIBA World Cup.
After bouncing back from their Friday defeat to Ivory Coast to beat Guinea 89-70 on Saturday, D’Tigers put up another underwhelming performance as Angola dent their hope of playing at the World Cup.
Game day 9 saw a sluggish start from the D’Tigers as they lost the first quarter 16-18.
The Nigerian team however bounced back in the second quarter to win 13-9.
The Angolans came out stronger in the third quarter with some neat steals and fast breaks to end the quarter 23-16.
The less clinical D’Tigers fought back to take the fourth quarter 22-20, but the Angolans held on for a 70-67 win.
Up next for Nigeria in the next window of FIBA World Cup qualifiers is a game against Ivory Coast on Friday, February 24, 2023.
Sixteen African teams are competing in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 African Qualifiers through five tournament windows over 15 months.
The qualifiers, which run from November 2021 to February 2023, will see five African national teams earn a spot in the FIBA Basketball World Cup that is scheduled to take place from August 25 to September 10, 2023, in Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines.
