D’Tigers qualified for the next round after recording 20-0 over Mali, who didn’t show up and were walked over in favour of D’Tigers. They secured 8 points and will join group leader Cape Verde and third place team Uganda to move to the next round.
According to the pre-qualification guideline, the top three teams in group A will be merged with the top three teams in Group C consisting of Côte d’Ivoire, Angola, Guinea, and the Central African Republic.
Meanwhile, Nigeria will face off with Uganda on Sunday at 2 pm after both teams lost to the eventual group winner, Cape Verde. The team under the tutelage of Alan Major will hope for a repeat of their first encounter in February when it swept off Uganda 95-69points to decide the second and third spots. The next round of matches will be held between the 22-30 of August.
Musa Kida congratulated the team after booking a place in the next round:
“Congratulations again for booking your deserved place in the second round. I bring you greetings from your compatriots back home, who are solidly behind you. The job is far from over. We must start preparing for the second round immediately with the game against Uganda tomorrow”.
“We must finish high and end this phase with a bang. The boys have been separated from the men, and the race for the ticket just got hotter. We count on you to deliver on this task. We will do everything within our power as a federation to make things easy for you on and off the court”.
