Nigeria’s men basketball team D’tigers ended their campaign at the Afrobasket qualification tournament unblemished winning all six of their matches over two phases.
They defeated Mali 76-56 in their final match this Friday. Tutored by stand-in coach Mfon Udofia in the absence of coach Mike Brown, D’Tigers made a significant improvement from there previous performances pacing to a 24-8 lead in the first quarter to open a 12 point margin.
Mali showed more ambition in the second quarter matching every move of the 2015 Africa champions but still fell short by a point in the second quarter to leave the halftime score at 42-25.
Ike Diogu recorded double contributing 20 points and 11 rebounds, his efforts were complemented by Keith Omoerah and Michael Gbinije who both combined 20 points contributing ten points each to help Nigeria to victory.
Mali came out strong in the fourth quarter but it was rather too late for them to force any come back. Attention will now shift to preparations proper for the Afrobasket and the Olympics
