22nd August, 2013
Reports emanating from Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, venue of the ongoing 27th Afrobasket indicate that two key players of the Nigerian Male basketball team, D’ Tigers, have been injured.
According to a source in the team’s camp, the two injured players are likely to be ruled out of the African Basketball Nations Cup.
“Two of our players were seriously injured yesterday (Wednesday) in the game against Mali, “These are the main shooters in the team. The medical team are making frantic efforts to ensure they recover in good time for the remaining matches of the group stage, “We need prayers from Nigerians back home so that D’ Tigers could win the elusive trophy this time,” the source craved.
Nigeria defeated Mali 74-59 in their first match on Wednesday.
They will play their second match against Congo on Friday and last group match against Cameroon on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Chief Coach of D’Tigers, Ayo Bakare, has praised the Malian team for giving his squad a good fight despite losing.
Bakare, who spoke at a post-match conference, said that “the result of the match didn’t show how difficult the game was for us. It didn’t show how hard they made us work.”
“The Malians are a young team and I believe they will get better in years to come,” Bakare noted.
Bakare said he was satisfied that Nigeria won their first match of the competition. “I feel satisfied like any other coach who has won a match and I feel particularly relieved that we squeezed out a win against Mali because in this competition, any team can beat any team.”
—Bamidele Olowosagba