Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) president, Ahmed Musa-Kida has declared that the country’s men’s senior national team, D’Tigers have already made him and others from the nation proud, following their victory over South Korea at the ongoing FIBA World Cup in China.
Megasportsarena.com can report that, although ‘D’Tigers still have to overcome Cote d’Ivoire in a classification game to seal a spot at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, Musa-Kida said he is already proud of what the team have done in The Oriental Nation.
It will be a massive game against CIV, who stopped Nigeria’s unbeaten run in Africa earlier on this year, but Kida is expecting another victory, after D’Tigers gave their Olympic qualification push a big boost on Wednesday by defeating South Korea 108-66.
Much to Kida’s relief, Wednesday’s win became the first at China 2019 for D’Tigers, who earlier gave gallant efforts but imploded to suffer painful losses in their first two games against Russia and Argentina.
Defeats against Russia and Argentina meant Nigeria could not qualify for the second round at the World Cup, yet D’Tigers had a slow start in their final group game, as the Koreans went on a 5-0 run for the first three minutes of the game.
Wednesday’s win ensured that Africa’s top-ranked team advanced to the classification Round in Beijing on the back of a 1-2 mark, while the Koreans conceded their third defeat in as many games, as D’Tigers caught up to close out the first quarter 15-17 points and captain of the team, Ike Dioguc helped Nigeria extend the lead with 15 points in 17 minutes performance.
Kida was thrilled to see the Nigerian players go out like hungry tigers from the first quarter, winning narrowly by 17-15, then tore away in the second quarter where the gap widened to 32-18, after which they won the third quarter 30-19 and complete the rout with 29-18 in the fourth quarter, to get an aggregate points line of 108-66.
Four Nigerians scored in double digits, including Michael Eric who finished with a team-high 17 points, while Michael Eric, son of former Super Eagles goalkeeper and assistant coach, Joe Erico, also got a team-high nine rebounds.
The other players to hit the double-digit mark in the coach Alexander Nwora-tutored D’Tigers were Ike Diogu (16 points), Chimezie Metu (15) and ben Uzoh (10), with three other players – Al-Farouq Aminu, Stan Okoye, and Nnamdi Vincent – adding nine points.
Every player in the Nigerian team made a point with Michael Eric leading all scorers with 18 points and 9 rebounds, after which Kida, said winning any match at the World Cup is a major feat for the squad, who he believes are now further motivated to book the Olympics ticket.
Statistics at the championship revealed that D’Tigers pooled the highest point differential of any African team (+24), and they head into their classification game with Ivory Coast with a 42-point tally that is also the highest margin of victory against a non-African opponent in the Nigerian team’s history, all of which Kida said made him proud in Wuhan, China.
The NBBF boss, though, was exuding optimism, as the team prepared for a trip to Guangzhou in continuation of their quest for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics ticket, and the anxious wait continues to know Nigeria’s fate for a straight appearance at the basketball event in the Olympiad.
Kida said: “Clearly for us, the qualification through the World Cup is still there and I am sure we will be coming out as the best performing African country in the World Cup.”
