D’Tigers suffered a humiliating overtime defeat to Libya who out-fought them to win 89-82 in their first 2025 FIBA AfroBasket qualifying game at the Salle Mohamed Mzali court in Monastir, Tunisia on Friday, Saturday PUNCH reports*
With the Nigerian team arriving in Tunisia on gameday, it was perhaps not surprising that they were far from their best against a Libyan side, who shocked Morocco in the decisive Game two of the 2025 FIBA AfroBasket Zone 1 Pre-Qualifiers on Tuesday.
Coach Abdulrahman Mohammed’s side trailed the Libyans 16-25 in the first quarter but bounced back to win the second quarter 19-15.
In the third quarter, however, D’Tigers failed to build on their four-point lead as they slumped to a third-quarter loss of 20-15. In the final quarter, Mohammed’s side bounced back to win 25-15 which forced the game into overtime where they lost 12-7.
D’Tigers, who crashed out of the Paris Olympics and the World Cup, will face Uganda in their next game on Saturday.
Their final Group B game is against Cape Verde on Sunday.
