Nigeria beat Egypt for good start at FIBA-Africa U-16 women championship

Nigeria on Saturday in Antananarivo, Madagascar beat Egypt 54-52 on the opening day of proceedings at the 2015 FIBA Africa U-16 Women Championship.

In the first round Group A game at the Palais des Sports Mahamasina, Nigeria fell behind 9-20 in the first quarter, but resurged 11-6 in the second quarter.

Returning from the half-time break 20-26, the Nigerian girls raised their game to win 23-16 and 11-10 in the third and fourth quarters to win the match.

Reacting to the victory, President of the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF), Tijjani Umar, commended the team for the victory.

“It is a good way to re-launch Nigeria into age-grade competition in Africa, after a four- year self-exile to sanitise the system,’’ he said.

Umar said he was hoping the team’s players would see the competition as a learning process and use it very well.

“They should just remain focused and enjoy the game.

“The position of the NBBF is that the team is not taking part in the competition to win at all cost, but to use it as a platform of getting future players of the senior team,’’ he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Nigeria will on Sunday face hosts Madagascar, who beat Morocco 62-29 also on Saturday.

They will take on Zimbabwe on Monday and Morocco on Tuesday to round off the group games.

Meanwhile, in a Group B match at the championship which ends on July 19, Angola beat Tunisia 68-57.

Three-times champions Mali, Mozambique and Rwanda are the other teams in Group B.

The competition, which is in its fourth edition, is the qualifiers for the 2016 FIBA Women World Championship, with the winners and runners-up qualifying.