By Sussan Omopeloye
Nigeria senior men’s basketball team, D’Tigers, suffered defeat to Libya in their opening Group B game at the AfroBasket 2025 qualifiers in Tunisia on Friday night.
D’Tigers arrived on the day of their opening game and went to the venue from the airport, FIBA had to move their game by four hours, to allow the players rest and recover from jetlag.
With just nine players available and no proper preparations the team still took the game to overtime before eventually losing 89-82 to Libya.
The team had initially withdrawn from the qualifiers due to lack of funds.
Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) posted on their official X handle,
“Despite several 2020 Olympians committing, D’Tigers forfeit this AfroBasket Qualifiers window due to lack of funds from the government.”
The team made a U-turn and were able to finally travel after funds surfaced.
D’Tigers will look to recover from the loss as they face Uganda in their second group game on Saturday.
After Matchday 1 Libya are top of the group, Cape Verde in second place while Uganda and Nigeria are third and fourth respectively.
The AfroBasket 2025 qualification will be played from February to November 2024, to determine the 16 nations who will qualify for the FIBA AfroBasket 2025.