Two-time champions, Mali have dumped Nigeria’s male representatives, Junior D’Tigers out of the FIBA AfroBasket championship holding in South Africa, BSNSports.com.ng reports.
Despite leading in the first quarter by 23-19, the Junior D’Tigers trailed by 2 points at the end of the first half by 40-38 to the Malians.
It ended 81-70 in favour of the Malians who picked the semi-finals ticket.
Meanwhile, Nigeria’s Junior D’Tigress will face off against Uganda in the semifinal of the 2024 FIFA AfroBasket Championship starting at 15:00 at the University of Pretoria in South Africa.
Nigeria reached this stage after defeating Egypt 66-51 in the quarterfinals on Wednesday, thus exacting revenge on the North Africans, who were 72-60 in their opening Group A fixture on September
Against a formidable side in Egypt, Nigeria, who qualified for the Last Eight as one of the two best third-place finishers from the Group Phase, stunned the reigning silver medallists to reach the semifinals.
Nigeria were perfect from the start, led by Abigail Isaac, who scored the most for the side with a double-double of 15 points and 12 rebounds. Idubamo, who dropped 13, was crucial for her side as she gave seven assists, as did Wandoo Marvis.
The Junior D’Tigress led 6-1 and again at 11-03, a start that spelled doom for Moustafa Atef Hadhood’s Egypt, who struggled from then on. A first-quarter score of 24-13 was far from what was expected from the silver medallists against a side that qualified as one of the two best third-place finishers.
Juliana Ojoshogu Negedu’s charges kept pulling away in the second quarter, making it a 13-point game halfway through the quarter at 32-19. The North Africans tried to keep things close with a 13-10 quarter, but the first quarter damage was proving a nightmare to repair.
Doyinsola Lijirin got action going in the second half with a layup 26 seconds in for Nigeria, clearly not how Egypt would have wanted to begin the period. Beggi and Momoluwa Ayomide Tewogbade (13) knocked down three-pointers each, Haya Alhalawany pulling one back for 46-30.
After losing their first encounter to Egypt, Nigeria came up with a bold for the quarterfinals match.
A 17-13 outcome in the third saw the Nigerians carry the massive advantage to the final quarter. Despite fighting to take the final quarter 15-12, it was too little, too late for the Pharaohs to turn the match around for victory.
Meanwhile, for the first time in the history of African basketball, two female head coaches—Cameroon’s Ange Majolie Lonteu and Nigeria’s Juliana Ojoshogu Negedu—reached the semi-finals of a major continental competition.
The Nigeria gaffer shared her excitement after her charges outclassed Egypt and will hope they replicate the feat against Uganda to berth at the final in their first appearance in the U18 Women’s AfroBasket since 2008.
“I feel excited and grateful that we have made it this far. After the team acclimatised, they were back to themselves”, said an elated coach, Ojoshogu, who explained how their scouting plan worked perfectly as they managed to stop Egypt’s top scorers.
The second semifinal fixture will see Mali battle Cameroon starting at 12:30 at the same venue also on Friday (today).
Mali became the first team to stamp their semifinal ticket after beating Rwanda 86-57 in Wednesday’s first quarterfinals, while Uganda shocked Tunisia 69-53 to secure their first-ever semi-final slot in the history of the tournament.
