Nigeria national basketball team, the D’Tigers, began their preparation for the forthcoming Rio Olympics on a positive note.
The African champions defeated host China, 79-71, in Beijing on Tuesday evening in a four-nation tournament, the 2016 Stankovic Cup.
France and Argentina are the other teams in the competition – with the European giants coming out tops by 64-57 when they clashed same day.
Coach Will Voigt’s team will be making their second appearance at the quadrennial showpiece after their woeful outing in London, eight years ago.
The victory against the Asian giants will further increase their confidence as they prepare to face Group B foes, Brazil, Spain, Argentina and Lithuania.
Reacting to the loss, China coach, Gong Luming lamented the absence of some key players, especially former NBA star, Yi Jianlian.
“The opening of the game was not good, we didn’t play as a team in offence and there were too much individual play,” Luming said.
The Nigerian side themselves were without some regulars such as Al-Farouq Aminu, who recently concluded his basketball camp in Ibadan at the weekend.
Also conspicuously missing was his brother Alade, NBA star, Victor Ezeli and new NBA draft, Mike Gbinije.
The quartet is expected to link-up with their team-mates in Las Vegas, United States of America (USA) after the Stankovic Cup to continue preparations for the Olympics.
D’Tigers will now face Argentina on Thursday in their second game of the competition.
