Pre-Olympic basketball qualifier: Mali compound D’Tigers woes

Ifeanyi Eduzor

D’Tigers of Nigeria are technically out of the France 2024 Pre- Olympic qualifying tournament after they lost their second game to Mali.
The coach Ogor Odaudu led side who lost their first match to Senegal on Monday could not redeem their image against a Malian side whom many taught would be an easy game for them.
They started the game on a good note but suddenly became a shadow of themselves in the last quarter which made their fellow West Africans not only cancel their 8 points lead but went ahead to annihilate them in the last quarter.
Both teams began the first quarter on a high note, running neck to neck on points but D’Tigers rebound and good defensive work from Kaodirichi Nkemjika Akobundu- Ehiogu proved vital in the quarter as they won it by a slim margin of 17-15.
The second quarter saw both teams not leaving anything to chance as they moved neck to neck throughout the duration of the quarter but the resilience of the Nigerians saw them ending the game 43-38.
In the third quarter shortly after the break, both teams maintained the high tempo of the game with none of them allowing each other any breathing space but at the end of the quarter, Nigeria ran away with 61-53 victory to open an 8 points lead.
D’Tigers who have been leading from the first quarter began the fourth and final quarter on a poor note; committing many fouls which made their opponent overtook them as they blew away their 8 points lead, managing to make only five points in the entire quarter.
This increased the confidence of the Malians who started dictating the pace of the game and committing the Nigerians to many fousl which enabled them win the game by 77-68 points.
Speaking on the game , Coach Ogor Odaudu while accepting responsibility for the loss noted that a lot of factors contributed to the poor performance of the team while the Malian Coach, Kaba Kante while commending his team for their resilience noted that they are not afraid of Senegal in their next game on Wednesday.