Nigeria male national basketball team, D’Tigers, have qualified for the FIBA World Cup thanks to an unbelievable six-game unbeaten streak at the African qualifier.
The last time they reached this competition was in 2006.
After booking a place with victory over the Central African Republic (CAF) on Saturday, Alex Nwora-led team outclassed Senegal 89-61 on Sunday.
Point guard, Ikenna Iroegbu, was in inspiring form for the former African champions.
Iroegbu’s 18 points were the most of six Nigerians who finished in double figures while Johan Grebongo came off the bench to try and spark the Central Africans’ offense with his team-high 17 points.
Nigeria led all but five minutes, moved the ball better with 20 assists against Senegal’s 13.
“Even though we had a short training camp – we are professionals, we know how to play the game – all credit to coach [Nwora] for picking great guys to play with,” Iroegbu told FIBA.
Nwora added: “We work collectively as a group, the more we work together, the better we get, and we showed it today.”
Senegal captain Max Kouguere admitted that “it was tough playing against Nigeria. They have experienced players. We did our best in the first half, but, eventually, we gave up because we have an important game tomorrow.”
