Nigeria
sealed qualification to the 2015 FIBA Africa Basketball championship in
Tunisia and the All African Games in Congo with a 63-50 victory over
Burkina Faso in the 2nd Leg of the qualifiers at the Indoor Sports Hall
of the National stadium in Surulere, Lagos.
The
D’Tigers who won the 1st leg by 23 points in Ouagadougou jumped off the
starting block in style, in front of the ecstatic Lagos crowd with an 8
points lead in the 1st quarter with the score line at 18-10 points.
Though
missing a couple of free throws in the 2nd quarter, the D’Tigers
extended their lead 32-17 to go on the half time break with a 15 points
lead thanks to good offensive display.
It
was a tougher game for the host after the break as the Burkinabes’ gave
a tough fight in the 2nd half winning both the 3rd and 4th quarters
15-14 and 18-17 points respectively. However, a relentless Nigerian
side held on for the much needed victory to keep the 2016 Rio Olympics
dream alive, which the 2015 Afrobasket will act as qualifiers.
Burkina
Faso’s Moussa Ouattara lead the floor on the night with 12 points and
11 rebounds in the losing effort with no Nigerian player recording
double digits.
However,
Azuoma Dike,Abdulwahab Yakubu and Abdulwahab Yahaya all finished with
9points apiece with Azuoma adding 6 rebounds to his tally. And Nigeria’s
only home based player at the 2013 FIBA Africa Basketball Championship
(Afrobasket) in Abidjan , Stanley Gumut giving a reminiscence
performance that got him a national call up putting up 8 points, 6
rebounds, 3 steals and 2 assists and captain Olumide Oyedeji adding 6
points, 7 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 assists.
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