*Upset as France beats defending Olympic champions USA
Olawale Ajimotokan with agency report
Nigeria’s national men’s basketball team, D’Tigers, began their Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games campaign yesterday conceding fourth quarter blow out to concede 84-65 defeat to Australia’s Boomers.
However, the defeat wasn’t a total failure for the D’Tigers given the gulf between both sides on global rankings. The Aussies gave what to expect when they spanked D’Tigers by 32 points when they met July 13 in a pre-games friendly in Las Vegas. But yesterday, the difference was just 17 points.
It could all have been different though if D’Tigers had been more proficient with their shooting, especially from the free throw line where they made just 13 of their 24 attempts – or 54.2 per cent. The Australians, meanwhile, made 18 of their 20 attempts from the charity line.
D’Tigers also made 8 of their 24 three-point attempts – or 33.3 per cent – compared to the Aussies who made 11 of their 24 attempts from downtown (or 45.8 per cent).
Both teams were tied 23 points apiece at the end of the first quarter, and were still tied at 34 points apiece with just under four minutes left in the second quarter when D’Tigers got into foul trouble.
But D’Tigers were in even bigger trouble as they struggled to make their free throws. Their struggle from the free-throw line was the main reason Australia went into the half-time break three points ahead, 43-40.
A 13-2 push by the Aussies at the start of the third quarter, gave the Boomers a 53-42 lead, but a revival of sorts, led by Jordan Nwora, midway through the quarter saw D’Tigers cut the lead to six points with just over three minutes on the clock.
The third quarter, however, ended 58-52 in favour of the Aussies, but the low-scoring 27-point quarter was probably due to a five-minute pause in action caused by an issue with the stop clock.
The stoppage seemed to affect the Nigerians more than it did the Aussies, as D’Tigers continued to struggle on the court, while the Boomers, led by the impressive Patty Mills, soared in confidence, and with six minutes left on the clock, had a comfortable 12-point lead.
The 31-year-old NBA superstar, who was playing at his fourth Olympic Games, would finish the game with 25 points as Australia won by 17 points to go top of Group B on points difference ahead of Italy who defeated Germany 92-82 earlier in the day.
Obi Emegano led D’Tigers in scoring with 12 points, with Jordan Nwora (10 points) the only other Nigerian to hit double figures.
Up next for D’Tigers will be a date with Germany at 2am Nigerian time on Wednesday, July 28.
Elsewhere, world’s No.7 ranked team, France mounted a tremendous comeback in the fourth quarter led by Evan Fournier (27 points) and RudyGobert (14 points, 9 rebounds) to upset the 15-time gold medallists and defending Olympic champions 83-76!
The United States will have an opportunity to rebound against the Islamic Republic of Iran on Wednesday while France will play the Czech Republic (who beat Iran 84-78) on the same date.
