Nigeria’s National Under 16 Boys Team has sealed a convincing win in the opening game of the 2023 FIBA Africa Under 16 Zone 3 qualifiers at the Eden Heights Sports Complex.
Nigeria beat Cote D’Ivoire 67-38 on the opening day of the three day tournament that commenced today and is scheduled to conclude on Saturday, June 24.
Cote D’Ivoire stayed within reach of Nigeria as it trailed 21-31 at half time but fell far behind in the fourth quarter when Nigerian trio of Eric Cheerish, Babatunde Abdul Samad and Abraham Sambo found its shooting touch to torch the Ivorians from three point range.
The win puts Nigeria in a strong position ahead of its much anticipated showdown against Ghana on Saturday in the Boy’s division. Ghana’s female team plays Nigeria on Friday, June 23 at 14:00 GMT.
A high powered delegation from the Ghana Basketball Association (GBBA) led by Association President Ato Van-Ess was present to witness the game with the Girl’s and Boy’s Teams representing Ghana.
Former NBA player Pops Mensah-Bonsu was also present to witness the game.
In the post game presser, Nigeria’s head coach Humphrey Onyanabo singled out his team’s level of preparation as the reason for the win.
“I think we are more prepared now than then-in 2019- because then we never had any preparations but for this team we had good preparation”.
On his part, Cote D’Ivoire’s head coach N’Gardinga Eloi said his team made too many mistakes in the loss.