Nigeria senior national team , D’Tigers were beaten by DR Congo 77-83 points in their last group game on Sunday.
Four D’Tigers finished on double figures like it was in the previous game against Mali. Ike Diogu led with 21 points and 7 rebounds, Ike Iroegbu had 18 points, 7 reboudns and 7 assists , Bryant Mbamalu added 16 points , 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals while Ike Nwamu contributed 12 points in the game .
Nigeria dominated for most part of the game which was tied twice only in the first half of the game.
D’Tigers struggled on the offense all through the fourth quarter and could only manage to score 11 points as against 31 points scored by DR Congo.
With 7:21 remaining, DR Congo got their first lead in the game 59-60 and built a ten point lead afterwards with 3:13 minutes left on the clock.
Captain Diogu made a 3 point shot in an attempt to get D’Tigers back into the game (77-80) with 9 seconds left. Diogu made 4 of 5 from the 3 point line.
D’Tigers never recovered from the late surge as hard fighting DR Congo got to the free throw line twice, converting 3 of their 4 free throws.
Evariste Shonganya scored 20 points and 6 rebounds, Myck Kabongo had 17 points and 6 rebounds, Her Kabasele added 12 points and 8 rebounds while Maxi Munanga contributed 11 points.
Nigeria are through to the quarter finals but await the result between Mali and Cote’d Ivore to determined if they will finish top or second in Group A.
