Coach Blames Defeat On Fatigue, Team Faces Cape Verde Today
Less than 24 hours after suffering 82-89 defeat to unranked Libya in their opening game of the 2025 AfroBasket qualifiers, Nigeria’s men team, D’Tigers, again went down 62-72 to Uganda in their second match, yesterday, in Monastir, Tunisia. On Friday, Nigeria’s D’Tigers became the first top-10 team in Africa to lose a game to an unranked team after they crashed 89-82 to the Libyans.
That defeat notwithstanding, many Nigerians, including officials of the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) stood in solidarity with the team, hoping for a turnaround in the second game.
But nothing good came their way, yesterday, as the coach Abdulrahman Mohammed-led D’Tigers failed to contain the Ugandan team, led by former Rivers Hoopers player, Robinson Opong, who came up with a performance to ensure Nigeria’s fall. Opong, the only Ugandan to score in double digits, established a record for most points scored in a single game of the new format of the AfroBasket Qualifiers. They won 72-62.
Signs of another bad outing started in the First Quarter, as Uganda won 12-7 before taking the second quarter 29-19. In the third quarter, Uganda also emerged tops with 55 points to D’Tigers’ 44 before rounding off with the final score of 72-62 in the fourth quarter.
Meanwhile, D’Tigers head coach Mohamed Abdulrahman says fatigue has a lot to do with his side’s uninspiring display so far in the championships. Abdulrahman believes his team have not had enough rest after arriving a few hours to their opening game on Friday.
“Fatigue played a part [in the loss]. These guys are pros, they have been in situations like this before, they are going to find a way
to motivate themselves.
“It’s something I don’t think I have to worry about. They are committed to play and win for the country. The biggest motivation is the high expectation from over two hundred million people back home that expect them not come here and go 0-3. 1-2 is much better than 0-3,’ said Abdulrahman.
One of D’Tigers players, Devine Eke, who led Nigeria with 19 points said he won’t go for the fatigue excuse.
“At the end of the day, no matter if it’s fatigue. We just need to be play our game the correct way,’ said Eke. While Uganda will face Libya in today’s clash, Nigeria will play Cape Verde.
