D’Tigers Lose To Venezuela

By Bamidele Olowosagba

Nigeria’s D’Tigers, started their quest to berth an Olympic basketball ticket on a losing note early this morning. Nigeria lost 71-69 points to Venezuela in their first match in Group B of the ongoing FIBA Olympic qualifier in Caracas, Venezuela.

The Olumide Oyedeji captained side, who are ranked 21st in the world, fell to hosts, Venezuela, in front of a rowdy home crowd after they led momentarily in the first half of the match.

Ike Diogu, who starred for D’Tigers, recorded 14 points, while Greius Vasquez of Venezuela had 24 points for his country.

Speaking after the match on FIBA.com, Coach Ayo Bakare of D’Tigers said: “We played with our heart through the match but we lost by 2 points to our hosts, who are out to prove themselves to their fans.

“We are not given up because we will play Lithuania on Wednesday with a belief for a place in the quarter final.”

Africa’s other representative, Angola had a bright start as they defeated Macedonia by 88-84 points, with Eduardo Mingas recording 24 points. Other results saw Russia beat South Korea by 91- 56, while Greece beat Jordan 107-63 points.