THE Nigeria men’s basketball team, D’Tigers, gave their Olympic
qualification push a big boost on Wednesday as they defeated South Korea 108-66
points at the ongoing FIBA Basketball World Cup in China.
Wednesday’s win is the first for the D’Tigers who had suffered narrow
losses in their first two games against Russia and Argentina.
The defeats against Russia and Argentina meant Nigeria could not qualify
for the second round at the World Cup.
But D’Tigers have a chance to book an automatic slot for the Tokyo 2020
Olympics if they finish as the continent’s top finisher in China.
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 before they caught up to
close out the first quarter 15-17 points.
Captain of the team, Ike Diogu, further helped Nigeria extend the lead with
15 points in 17 minutes performance.
Every player in the Nigerian team made a point with Michael Eric leading
all scorers with 18 points and 9 rebounds.
