August 27, (THEWILL) – D’Tigers of Nigeria fell 78–66 to the considerably better Ivory Coast team in Abidjan, as Nigeria resumed their 2023 FIBA World Cup Qualifying campaign.
As the qualifiers approached, the Nigerians were rocked with a spate of withdrawals, including Olympians Miye Oni, Ike Nwamu, and Christian Mekowulu. Chris Obekpa and Jordan Ogundiran, were instead called up by D’Tigers for the qualifiers as late replacements.
Both teams scored 14 points in the first quarter as the game got off to an even start. In the second quarter, the Ivorian started to gain ground, and at the end of the first half, they had a 42-36 advantage. The third quarter saw the home team maintain control of the game, increasing their advantage to 60-52 entering the fourth. The fourth quarter saw them score 18 more points while the Nigerians only managed 14.
Josh Okogie of the Minnesota Timberwolves led the scoring for the D’Tigers with 23 points and 10 rebounds, while Ivorian star Vafessa Fofana had 25 points and 11 rebounds to lead all scorers in the contest. Chimezie Metu, a player for the Sacramento Kings, gave the D’Tigers 20 points and 11 rebounds.
D’Tigers will play again tomorrow against Guinea in an effort to restart their Group E campaign.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
