Nigeria’s D’Tigers failed to win a game at the ongoing Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia. Prior to Tuesday’s game, they had lost all three games played against New Zealand, Canada and Australia.
Gareth Murray powered his team to 66-61 points win over Nigeria and advance to the semi-finals of the basketball event. Murray had 17 points and 8 rebounds in 35 minutes, Michael Vigor added 12 points while Jonathan Bunyan and Alasdair both contributed 10 points each for Scotland.
Nigeria kept it close for a larger part of the game but were let down by the number of missed baskets in the paint and from the three point line. The team made 23/74 from the field and 10/37 from the deep.
Captain of the D’Tigers Ikechukwu Diogu had a brilliant game scoring a double-double, 24 points and 15 rebounds and 5/11 from the arc despite committing 6 turn overs in the game.
With a 12 points gap at the end of the first half (28-40), the D’Tigers outscored the Scottish team 18-6 to tie the game (46-46) going to the last quarter. Scotland however did enough to edge the game despite a late scare from Nigeria.
The D’Tigers narrow loss to the Scotland’s Cinderellas ended their hope for a medal at the basketball event
