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Tag: D’Tigers

  • Buhari congratulates D’Tigers qualifying for Olympics 2020

    President Muhammadu Buhari has joined Nigerians and Basketball fans all over the world in celebrating D’Tigers for a successful outing at FIBA World Cup 2019, defeating China, 86-73, and securing a place for Olympics 2020.

    The president’s congratulatory message is communicated through a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, in Abuja on Monday.

    President Buhari congratulated the team for the energetic, resilient and skillful outing that saw them out-playing and out-pacing opponents during the tournament, assuring the team that the nation remains proud of them.

    He also commended officials and technical hands for the commitment and investments in ensuring that the D’Tigers emerged victorious with all the odds of playing against China before home fans in Guangzhou.

    As the team prepares for the Tokyo Olympics, President Buhari noted that with more dedication, training and focus, D’Tigers will surprise the world.

    News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Nigeria’s senior men’s basketball team D’Tigers secured the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games after beating China 86-73 at the FIBA World Cup game played at the Gyangzhou Gymnasium, China.

    The Nigerians pipped African champions, Tunisia to the ticket who had a crucial win on Saturday.

    Both teams finished with three wins from five games but D’Tigers got the ticket with better goal difference.

    The Nigerian team failed to get the Olympics ticket from their group after it finished with two losses and a win but eventually booked a place after emerging as the highest-ranked African team at the tournament.

  • FIBA 2019: D’Tigers edge West African rivals Cote d’Ivoire 83-66

    FIBA 2019: D’Tigers edge West African rivals Cote d’Ivoire 83-66

    Nigeria’s national men’s basketball team, D’Tigers on Friday in China at the ongoing FIBA World Cup defeated Cote d’Ivoire 83-66 in their first classification phase game.

    Having finished third in Group B with three points, the D’Tigers entered into the classification phase of the tournament as Africa’s top performers.

    They are therefore poised to clinch Africa’s sole automatic ticket for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.

    The Nigerian side took the keenly contested first quarter 24-18 but crumbled in the second quarter with some sloppy displays which allowed the Ivorians a 17-13 win.

    However, D’Tigers bounced back in the third quarter, with Al-Farouk Aminu and Nnamdi Vincent constantly asking questions of the Ivorian defence.

    The two West African countries shared the spoil 20-20 in the final quarter of the highly entertaining game, but D’Tigers did just enough to run away as winners.

    Nigeria had defeated Cote d’Ivoire in Lagos 84-73 points during the World Cup qualifiers before suffering an away 72-46 points defeat in Abidjan later.

    Although, Ike Diogu had nine rebounds, while Vincent scored D’Tigers’ highest points (15), Aminu was Nigeria’s best performer with 13 points, 7 rebounds, four assists and 2 steals.

    D’Tigers will now focus on hosts China, who they will play in their second classification game at the Guangzhou Gymnasium, China.

    A victory against China will earn D’Tigers the highest placed in Africa, having enjoyed a better points deficit compared to the other four African teams.

    Musa Kida, the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) President, had said it was important for the team to grab the only automatic ticket on offer to Africa for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.

    He said that playing the qualifiers would have huge financial implications on the board.

  • FIBA World Cup: Nigeria lose second game 81-94 to Argentina

    FIBA World Cup: Nigeria lose second game 81-94 to Argentina

    Nigeria’s D’Tigers lost 81-94 to Argentina on Monday in their second Group B game at the ongoing FIBA Men’s Basketball World Cup in China.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the defeat was Nigeria’s second consecutive loss at the tournament, having lost the opening game 77-82 to Russia on Saturday.

    D’Tigers, being debutants at the event, were hoping to outclass the number five ranked Argentines at the Wuhan Sports Centre to move to the second round.

    The first quarter, however, ended in favour of the South Americans 28-17, while a resilient side captained by Ike Diogu pushed on to make a comeback and they led 36-35 in the second quarter.

    The experience of Argentina’s Luis Scola came to the fore, as the team took an 11-point lead at the end of the third quarter, to finish victorious with 94 points.

    Scola, however, made history at the end of the game, climbing to second place in the all-time FIBA World Cup scoring list with 611 career points.

    Argentina have now booked a spot in the second round after two wins against South Korea and Nigeria.

    Nigeria will face South Korea on Wednesday in their third group stage match at the competition which holds from Aug. 31 to Sept. 15 in China.

  • FIBA World Cup: D’Tigers face American side in friendly

    FIBA World Cup: D’Tigers face American side in friendly

    Nigeria’s D’Tigers is set to take on the American One Orange Sports basketball team in New York, on Saturday.

    The exhibition match is part of the team’s preparations for the 2019 Federation of International Basketball (FIBA) World Cup.

    Nigeria is one of the five African countries that qualified for the tournament holding in China between Aug. 31 and Sept. 15.

    Saturday’s friendly is billed for 8 p.m. (1 a.m. in Nigeria on Sunday) at the College of New Rochelle, New Rochelle City.

    News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the D‘Tigers defeated Dominican Republic 89-87 in a friendly encounter in San Domingo on Monday.

    They had earlier on Saturday beaten the same team, which is also World Cup-bound, 85-81 in the first lap of the two-legged friendly.

    NAN learnt from the organising committee that the Nigerian side will later proceed to Canada for yet another warm up game before heading to China.

    Meanwhile, a townhall meeting had been scheduled for Sunday evening between the team and members of the Nigerian community in New York.

    Information provided by the Nigerian consulate in New York indicates that the meeting will take place at same College of New Rochelle at 5 p.m.

  • African Games: D’Tigers, D’Tigress open camp in Abuja Friday

    The Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) says the male and female basketball teams to the 2019 African Games in Morroco, will commence camping on July 5, in Abuja.
    NBBF Media Officer Afolabi Oni, disclosed this to News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday, in Abuja.
    He said that the 3×3 National Team Head Coach Acha Ikwue, had invited eight home based players to D’Tigers camp to fight for the four available jerseys.
    They include Yahaya Abdul, Rivers Hoopers of Port Harcourt, David Godwin, Dike Azuoma and Okoh Subel, all of Kano Pillars.
    Others are Akintunde Moses, Agu Abuchi, Iduh Mathias, of Gombe State Bulls; and Ogunsemore Micheal, who is currently unattached.
    Oni said arrangements had been concluded for the team to camp at Bolingo Hotel in Abuja.
    For the D’Tigress, he said Coach Niagwan Jacqueline, invited Abel Chizi, MFM Basketball Club, Musa Murjanatu, Air Warriors of Abuja, Anaswem Jossett, Customs and Mac-Dangosu Theresa of FCT Angels.
    Umeh Nwamaka, and the duo of Okoro Ifunanya and Iornumbe Regina, from First Bank of Lagos, complete the list of players invited to camp.
    The 2019 African Games is scheduled for Rabat, Morocco from Aug. 19 to 31.

  • We’ll be well prepared for 2019 FIBA World Cup – Kida

    We’ll be well prepared for 2019 FIBA World Cup – Kida

    Musa Kida, the President, Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF), on Tuesday said that the national senior men’s basketball team, D’Tigers, would be well prepared for the 2019 FIBA World Cup in China.

    Nigeria ranked number one in Africa and 33 in the world and in Group B with Russia, Argentina and Korea who are ranked 10, five and 32 respectively.

    Kida told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that he was confident of the team’s quality and with a well coordinated preparation, the team would surely shock the world.

    “It is a very dicey group, with Russia a very good team from Europe and Argentina the current South American giants and against Korea who are no pushovers at the big stage.

    “We are a power house when it comes to the world stage and we are going to put up the kind of performance that will definitely shock the world.

    “We are very confident of doing well; I have no predictions but can assure everybody that at the end, it will be our best outing ever,” he said.

    “We are going to the World Cup as the number one team in Africa and the first country to qualify or the World Cup globally on the back of a nine -game unbeaten streak.

    “We are in talk with D’Tigers’ head coach, Alex Nwora, who also communicates regularly with our players in Europe and in the U.S.

    “In the coming days, we shall draw out our World Cup preparation plans which will also go side by side with the African Games.’’

    D’tigers will begin their quest to World Cup glory against Russia on Aug. 31 and clash with Argentina on Sept. 2 and also play Korea before the classification games in the second round.

  • 2019 FIBA World Cup: D’Tigers drawn against Russia, Argentina, South Korea

    2019 FIBA World Cup: D’Tigers drawn against Russia, Argentina, South Korea

    Nigeria’s senior national male basketball team, D’Tigers, will face Russia, Argentina and South Korea at the 2019 FIBA World Cup, following the draw conducted on Saturday at Shenzhen in China.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Draw was presented by Wanda, before a crowd of 8,000 spectators at the Shenzhen Bay Arena.

    The draw sets out the path for the 32 participating teams in their journey to be crowned world champions in FIBA’s flagship competition on Sept. 15.

    D’Tigers have been drawn in Group B and will play their group games in Wuhan, with familiar foes Argentina looking for now to be their biggest opponents.

    In Nigeria’s first appearance at the global stage, the South Americans beat them 68-51 in their Group D game at the 1998 edition of the 16-team FIBA World Championship in Greece.

    D’Tigers lost all three group matches, but finally finished 13th in the competition which is now known as the FIBA World Cup, after winning their two classification matches.

    Their classification phase semi-final game was against South Korea, now their Group B opponents in China, and they won 89-65, before going on to beat Japan.

    Argentina were 98-64 winners when both sides met in Group A at the championship’s 2006 edition in Japan, where D’Tigers finished 14th or joint 9th among 24 teams.

    They had finished third earlier in their group, after two wins and three losses, but a 77-78 loss to Germany in the Round of 16 ended their campaign.

    Fellow west Africans Cote d’Ivoire are in Group A alongside Poland, Venezuela and hosts China, and will play their games in the Chinese capital city of Beijing.

    Senegal are drawn in Group H to face Canada, Lithuania and Australia in Dongguan, while defending champions U.S. are in Group E based in Shanghai with Turkey, Czech Republic and Japan.

    Group D, which has another African country in Angola, will play in Foshan, with Serbia, Italy and the Philippines completing the group.

    Tunisia are placed in Group C, along with the Republic of Ireland, Tunisia and Portugal, and will be based in Guangzhou.

    Group F has Greece, New Zealand, Brazil and Montenegro amd will play in Nanjing, while the Dominican Republic, France Germany and Jordan will do battle at Shenzhen in Group G.

    Global sporting icon and FIBA World Cup Ambassador Kobe Bryant, together with American best-selling singer/songwriter Jason Derulo, headlined the event.

    The milestone event on the Road to China 2019 took place under the watchful eyes of FIBA President Horacio Muratore, FIBA Secretary General Andreas Zagklis and representatives from the 32 participating national teams.

    Group A – Beijing

    Cote d’Ivoire
    Poland
    Venezuela
    China

    Group B – Wuhan

    Russia
    Argentina
    South Korea
    Nigeria

    Group C – Guangzhou

    Spain
    Republic of Ireland
    Puerto Rico
    Tunisia

    Group D – Foshan

    Angola
    The Philippines
    Italy
    Serbia

    Group E – Shanghai

    Turkey
    Czech Republic
    U.S.
    Japan

    Group F – Nanjing

    Greece
    New Zealand
    Brazil
    Montenegro

    Group G – Shenzhen

    France
    Dominican Republic
    Germany
    Jordan

    Group H – Dangguan

    Canada
    Senegal
    Lithuania
    Australia

  • FIBA World Cup: D’Tigers may face Argentina, Brazil, Canada

    Nigeria’s national men’s basketball team, the D’Tigers, has been placed in Pot 7 by the Federation of International Basketball (FIBA) ahead of the FIBA World Cup draw on March 16.

    According to a statement released by the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) on Friday and made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Senegal, New Zealand and Angola complete teams placed in Pot 7.

    The statement, signed by Afolabi Oni, NBBF media officer, also said the 32 teams which qualified for the 2019 FIBA World Cup were shared among eight pots of four teams each.

    It further said the placements were based on the latest FIBA World Ranking for men after the last window of qualifiers played in February.

    “Hosts China are in Pot 1, alongside the top 3 teams in the world: USA, Spain and France. Pot 2 has Serbia, Argentina, Lithuania and Greece, while Russia, Australia, Brazil and Italy complete Pot 3.

    “Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Turkey and Venezuela are in Pot 4.

    “Germany, Czech, Poland and Iran are in Pot 5, while FIBA grouped Canada, Montenegro, Philippines and Korea in Pot 6.”

    “Japan, Jordan, Tunisia and the last African team to qualify, Cote d’Ivoire, make up teams in Pot 8,” the statement read.

    According to the guidelines released by FIBA 24 hours before the event, Pots 1, 4, 5 and 8 would feed Groups A, C, E and G while Pots 2, 3, 6 and 7 would feed Groups B, D, F and H.

    China would be placed in Group A with all their group matches to be played in Beijing and reigning world champions USA would be allocated to Group E in Shanghai.

    Group B games would be played in Wuhan, while the city of Guangzhou would host Group C.

    Foshan will play host to Group D teams.

    Group F teams would play in Nanjing, Group G in Shenzhen while Dongguan is the preferred city for Group H teams.

    The FIBA World Cup holds between the Aug. 31 and Sept. 15.

    The statement said the NBBF would be represented at the draws by Lawal Dayo, a high-ranking official at the Nigerian Embassy in China, while D’Tigers’ Team Manager, Musa Adamu, is also expected to attend the occasion.

  • FIBA: D’Tigers drop one spot in latest world ranking, retain 1st in Africa

    FIBA: D’Tigers drop one spot in latest world ranking, retain 1st in Africa

    The Nigerian national basketball team, D’Tigers has dropped one spot from their 32nd position to 33rd in the latest FIBA world ranking released on Thursday.

    D’Tigers are one of the 47 teams that dropped in the ranking despite having qualified for the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup in China.

    The 2017 FIBA AfroBasket runner-up, D’Tigers amassed 292.8 points to retain their status as the best team in Africa.

    Angola moved up one spot from third to second in Africa and one as well in the world ranking from 37 to 36 recording 266.0 points after winning all three of their games in the African Qualifiers – on home soil in Luanda – to also punch their ticket to China 2019.

    Senegal occupies the third position in Africa with 261.2 points to finish 39th in the world ranking.

    Tunisia and Egypt maintained the fourth and fifth place to be ranked 51st and 52nd respectively in the world ranking.

    Other countries in the African top ten are Cameroon who moved up five places in sixth place (58th in the world), Morocco (60th in the world), Mali (67th in the world) Cote D’ Ivoire (68th in the world) and Central African Republic (35th in the world).

    In the world ranking, USA remains the top team in the world and they are followed by Spain, France, Serbia, and Argentina in the top five. Lituania, Slovenia, Greece, Croatia, and Australia completed the top ten.

  • Commonwealth Games: D’Tigers lose 67-82 to Canada

    Commonwealth Games: D’Tigers lose 67-82 to Canada

    The Canadian national basketball team on Saturday defeated the Nigerian national male basketball team, D’Tigers, 82-67 points at the ongoing Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia.

    The Nigerians had lost their first preliminary qualification game against the Tall Blacks of New Zealand on Friday and have now all but crashed out of the tournament.

    Canada were favourites going into the game, and in the game’s first quarter Canada took a 23-16 points lead, while D’Tigers took a narrow lead of 21-20 in the second period.

    D’Tigers also rallied to take another slim lead in the third quarter, pipping Canada by 15-14 points, with both leads doing little to peg the North Americans back.

    It was in the final period, however, that Canada extended their domination, taking 25 points against D’Tigers’ 15.

    The Nigerian basketball team are now in the bottom of Pool A, having played two matches and lost both.

    Pool toppers New Zealand and second-placed Australia played their group’s other game later in the day.

    Two teams will qualify for the semi-finals from each preliminary group, while the bottom two teams from Pools A and B will play for a place in the qualifying finals.

    Nigeria’s final group match is against hosts Australia on Tuesday at 12 noon Nigerian time.

    NAN