D’Tigers Suffer Second Straight Loss as World Cup Hopes Fade

Nigeria’s men’s basketball team, the D’Tigers, suffered their second consecutive defeat in the second round of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027 African Qualifiers, losing 82-79 to South Sudan on Friday at the Salle Multidisciplinaire de Radès in Tunisia.

The Bright Stars made a fast start, producing a 9-0 run late in the opening quarter to turn a 15-14 deficit into a 25-15 lead before ending the period 30-19 ahead. Nigeria were forced to recover from an 11-point first-quarter deficit before briefly taking control in the third quarter. Caleb Agada led a 7-0 run that turned a 43-41 deficit into a 48-43 lead for Nigeria with 9:08 left in the third quarter. South Sudan responded to regain control, and the game remained tightly contested into the final period. Josh Okogie then levelled the scores at 70-70 with a three-pointer with 7:03 remaining, after South Sudan had moved 70-67 ahead. However, Wenyen Gabriel responded 21 seconds later with a hook shot to restore South Sudan’s lead, and the Bright Stars held on from there.

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Marial Shayok led South Sudan with 19 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals, while Nuni Omot contributed 13 points. Carlik Jones also impressed with 11 points, 12 assists and eight rebounds. Okogie was Nigeria’s leading scorer with 14 points, eight rebounds and two assists, but his effort was not enough to prevent D’Tigers from suffering another narrow defeat.

The result comes two days after Nigeria began the second round with a 78-62 loss to Cameroon, with Yves Missi scoring 24 points and grabbing nine rebounds in a dominant display. The back-to-back defeats have put D’Tigers under pressure in their bid to qualify for the 2027 World Cup in Qatar, with Sunday’s clash against Cape Verde now crucial to their campaign.

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