Afrobasket Qualifiers: D’Tigers beat Rwanda 83-62

Nigeria beat Rwanda 83-62 on Saturday in their second game of the Afrobasket 2021 qualifiers holding at the Kigali Arena.

D’Tigers’ game against Rwanda got underway at 8pm local time (7pm Nigerian) as the hosts sought a first win in the tournament having lost their first match 70-64 to Mali on Thursday.

Nigeria had beaten South Sudan 76-56 in a match that was also played on Thursday.

On Saturday, D’Tigers won the first and second quarters 22-13and 25-15 respectively. They lost the third quarter just as it happened against South Sudan by 24-19 but recovered to take the last quarter at 17-10.

Ike Diogu led in scoring for Nigeria with 18 points and while Kami Kabaje’s 13 was the biggest for Rwanda.

Speaking about the match, Rwanda’s captain, Olivier Shyaka told Times Sport concerning Nigeria.

“We know the kind of opponent we are facing. We’ll approach the game as if our lives depend on it.

 “This match against Nigeria will be hard, and we are going to focus on attacking. We are confident that we will win this match.”

They gave their best against Nigeria but it turned out very hard as Shyaka had predicted.

Nigeria will face Mali on Sunday in their last Group D game.