Nigeria’s Junior Tigers bounced back from their opening loss to defending champions Egypt with a hard-fought 70-65 victory over Angola in their second Group B game at the FIBA U-18 Afrobasket.
The Junior Tigers needed a win to be in contention for the knockout stages and had to do it the hard way beating Angola in a pulsating encounter in Pretoria.
The first quarter was a closely contested affair, with Nigeria narrowly edging out Angola 20-18. In the second quarter, the Junior Tigers stepped up their defensive intensity, limiting Angola to just six points while scoring 12 of their own. This strong defensive performance gave Nigeria an eight-point lead at halftime, 32-24.
However, Nigeria’s sloppy play in the second half almost cost them the game. The Junior Tigers committed 23 turnovers with 16 coming in the first half, many of which were unforced errors. Angola capitalized on these mistakes, outscoring Nigeria 25-15 in the third quarter and taking a two-point lead into the final period.
Despite a strong start to the fourth quarter by the Angolans, Nigeria’s resilience ultimately prevailed. The Junior Tigers were able to overcome Angola’s momentum and secure the 70-65 victory by outscoring Angola 21-18
Nigeria’s final group game will be against Uganda on Tuesday.
