The D’Tigers of Nigeria has lost the final match of the Afro basketball tournament to co-host Tunisia by 77-65 points.
The Tunisian team came into the game as favourites having won all matches prior to the final. D’Tigers who hoped to retain the title won the first quarter 14-8 points. However, the resilient Tunisian team came strong in the second and third quarter winning by 17-10 and 27-16 points respectively.
D’Tigers captain, Ike Diogu, however put on a good performance. He netted a total of 20 points, 10 rebounds, one assist, one steal and one block.
Tunisia’s sensational, Ziyed Chennoufi, netted 19 points, with three rebounds, three assists and a steal to help Tunisia claim the 2017 Afro basketball title.
Tunisia having won the 29th edition of the Afro basket, now has two trophies to their name. They won their first ever title after 30 years in 2011 when they beat Angola in the final.
Most Valuable Player of the tournament went to Nigeria’s Ike Diogu. He topped the points chart with a PPG (Points per Game) of 22.5, closely followed by Cameroon’s Benoit Mbala with 21.8 points.
Making the All-Tournament Team are; Mohamed Hadidane of Tunisia, Ikenna Iroegbu and Ike Diogu both of Nigeria, Mourad El Mabrouk also of Tunisia and lastly Gorgui Dieng of Guinea.
The final standing had winners Tunisia in the first position with 6-0 having won all matches, Nigeria second with 5-1, winning five matches and losing one. Third position went to co-host Senegal, 5-1, also winning five matches and losing one.
The 18th edition of the FIBA Basketball World is slated for 2019 when China hosts the World.