The Nigeria Basketball team – D’Tigers, lost agonisingly to host national Basketball team, Angola on Saturday afternoon, as Nigeria settled for 8th place on the 2023 FIBA Afrocan Qualification standings.
The defeat to Angola on Saturday was.the second loss in four days.
The Classification game was the decider for 7th and 8th place, after D’Tigers had lost 74 – 72 to the 2019 champions – DR Congo in the quarterfinals which dropped the Nigerian team off the top 5 spot.
D’Tigers took the first quarter with one point after forcing Angola to a 19 – 18 scoreline, before tieing the second quarter 16 – 16 to create a tensed atmosphere as the game progressed. Nigeria regained lead in the third quarter with a 17 – 16 score, but surrendered the forth helplessly as Angola edged with 17 – 22 on the dunk card.
Angola won the game with three points in gap, to produce an engaging 69 – 72 scoreline, which placed the host team in 7th position on the log as Nigeria could only settle for 8th, just above Gabon, Mozambique, Cameroon, and Mali in 9th to 12th position respectively.
D’Tigers gained entry into the 2023 FIBA Afrocan qualifying series through the Wild Card, the Nigeria senior national team won two games and lost four in the six Classification games played so far in Angola.
