AfroBasket 2013: Nigeria beat Mali 75-59

The Nigeria national basketball team, D’Tigers, shot to a good start in the 2013 African Nations Cup tagged AfroBasket 2013 beating Mali 75-59 in their first Group D match on Wednesday.

Nigeria arrived in Cote d’Ivoire with half the number of players that featured for the country at the 2012 London Olympics but the Malians were not intimidated by their status as they scored the first shot.

 Al Farough Aminu and Ike Diogu – both from the Olympics – who started the game for Nigeria tried to cage their opponents immediately but it turned out quite a task in the first quarter. Mali soon jumped to a 13-4 lead but could not move further as D’Tigers caught up at 13-13 using inside game play while the Malians relied on their 3-pointers. The first quarter ended at 18-14 for Mali.

D’Tigers started the second quarter with better offensive play and immediately tied up at 18-18 but the Malians soon took off again even as the game continued at a clutch. Nigeria took the first lead at 28-27 and held on until the end even as Mali tied twice afterwards. The second and third quarters ended at 31-27 and 47-46 respectively.

Ahead of the match in Abidjan, Nigeria coach Ayo Bakare had said the country would not play the second fiddle this term.

He said, “I want to say that we have played second fiddle for too and cannot afford to continue that way, so we must put in our best to ensure we achieve success. This is the best set of players we have ever assembled and I believe we can win if we put in our best.”