D’Tigers inch closer to Olympics after beating Cote d’Ivoire
Nigeria’s men basketball team, D’Tigers defeated Cote d’Ivoire at the classification round 83-66 at the FIBA World Cup to move closer to Olympics qualification.
Nnamdi Vincent led D’Tigers in scoring with 15 points, shooting 33.3% from threes while Al-Farouq Aminu followed with 13 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Deon Thompson reinforced his importance to the Ivorien side contributing a game-leading 19 points. He was one rebound away from getting a double-double.
Nigeria finished the first quarter with a 24-18 lead before Ivory Coast fought to cut the lead and finish the second quarter two points behind D’Tigers.
Alex Nwora’s men put even more distance between themselves and their opponents in the third quarter before rounding off the fourth quarter to improve their Tokyo 2020 qualification chance.
.@Chimezie_Metu takes the 🇨🇮 defense on a 🌀 for the behind-the-back assist as @nbbfonline 🇳🇬 pulls away for the W! #NGRCIV #NigeriaGotGame
📽 https://t.co/U6RPjwM4Dr pic.twitter.com/KOTnu9L0qy
— Basketball World Cup (@FIBAWC) September 6, 2019
After finishing third in Group B that comprised of Russia, Argentina and Korea, D’Tigers dropped to the classification round which offers the opportunity to qualify to the 2020 Olympic Games.
Nigeria will face China in the second classification round on Sunday.
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