Barely two weeks after forcing the Super Eagles of Nigeria to a 1-1 draw in the Qatar 2022 World Cup qualifier in Lagos, Cape Verde, yesterday caused a major upset in the 2023 FIBA World Cup qualifier campaign, beating Nigeria’s male basketball team, D’Tigers, in their opening game.

The 2015 African champions, Nigeria, fell 71-79 to Cape Verde yesterday morning at the Benguela, Pavilhão Multiusos Acácias Rubras.

The Nigerian men’s basketball team started the game on a high note with a 20-18 lead in the first quarter. Signs of a defeat came in the second quarter, when D’Tigers lost 15-16 to Cape Verde.

The Nigerians rallied back into the game with a three-point advantage of 20-17 in the third quarter. But the Julius Nwosu-led D’Tigers then failed to pull their weight in the fourth quarter, which they lost 16-28 points.

D’Tigers will take on Mali in the second qualification game today at 2 pm local time.
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