Nigeria’s D’Tigers completed their Group D campaign of the 2025 AfroBasket on a high and impressive note on Sunday with a 99-90 win over Cameroon, The Sunday win gave D’Tigers a 3-0 finish as leaders of the group and more importantly a direct entry to the quarterfinals of the tournament.
In their inspired performance, Nigeria had six players score in the double digits. Josh Okogie led the D’Tigers with 16 points. Caleb Agada scored 15, Stan Okoye finished with 14, Christian Mekowulu and Ike Nwamu each contributed 12, and Martins Igbannu scored 10.
The Cameroonians were led by Fabien Ateba with 19 points and Yves Missi with 18. Jeremiah Hill left the game with a knee injury after scoring 16 points, and Samir Gbetkom scored 13.
Nigeria and Cameroon traded buckets in a frantic first quarter that saw the D’Tigers 28-25 up. In the second quarter, Nigeria upped their intensity, outscoring Cameroon 30-16 at the end of the second quarter.
Cameroon struggled to find an answer to Nigeria’s three-point prowess, and they ultimately paid the price with their nine-point loss. Nigeria’s 15 three-pointers were the most by any team in the tournament so far.
Trailing by as many as 34 points required a Herculean effort from Cameroon, which they displayed in the fourth quarter. However, their fight-back spirit came a little too late.
“We were a little disappointed because we were a little flat in the end. We have learn to close out games and let teams come back like that. It was really great to knock down shots, but we could have done better on defence and taken better care with the turnovers,” said Stan Okoye.
This was the fourth matchup between the two teams at the AfroBasket tournament. The D’Tigers had knocked out the Indomitable Lions in the quarterfinals of the 2017 tournament, and the stakes were just as high in this final group matchup.
A win for either team would mean topping Group B and earning a direct spot in the quarterfinals.
Eventually, Nigeria won the group with a perfect 3-0 record, while Cameroon finished second at 2-1.
Extrasportnigeria 
Leave a comment