Afrobasket 2021 begins with D’Tigers winning 81-73 over Mali
Written by admin on August 25, 2021
On Wednesday in the Kigali arena in Rwanda, D’Tigers in Nigeria opened it’s 2021, Afrobasket with an 81-73 victory defeat against Mali.
D’Tigers let the Malians fight back during the second quarter after storming at 28-12 first-quarter advantage, which cut the margin to 1-2 at mid-term. In the second quarter, Mali concluded 16-31 and Nigeria scored 44-43.
The 2015 victors recovered the first quarter in the third quarter and were 17 better points than their West African neighbors who ended 27-10, but then dropped 10-20 in their shells to make it a two-half match in the fourth quarter.
Coach Michael Brown spoke after the match because the Kigali contingent was composed mostly of players who were not part of the Tokyo 2020 team. The Nigerians are much appreciated.
He said that the squad played off throughout the game as they had started camping for a tournament and that it was the first time they were playing with their opponents.
“This is our first-time contact because we had just eight men at the beginning of a training camp so we couldn’t play five-on-five,” Brown remarked in the post-game interview.
He stated the squad will push further to take care of the ball and commit fewer fouls. He said.
When the new men arrived here, we didn’t play 5-on-5. “The new guys were so far behind us. This is the first time our crew has seen someone else. They sometimes were weary and they were extremely slack offensively when they were tired and had a lot of turnovers and they were very defensively exhausted.
With 18 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 assists, Benjamin Emelogu topped the scoring for D’Tigers.
On Friday in Group C, D’Tigers’ next match will be Kenya, which is also Cote d’Ivoire.
The latest competition conducted in 2017 brought Nigeria to the 2nd spot.
With 18 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 assists, Benjamin Emelogu topped the scoring for D’Tigers.
On Friday in Group C, D’Tigers’ next match will be Kenya, which is also Cote d’Ivoire.
The latest competition conducted in 2017 brought Nigeria to the 2nd spot.
