Gallant Tigers bow to Angola 67-62

Nigeria senior national team today went down to its perennial foe, Angola in the first semi final of the 23rd FIBA Africa Championship by 67-62 points.The coach Mario Palma tutored African champions led D’Tigers from the blast of the referees’ whistle to the end of the encounter described as the best game played so far in the two weeks old championship.

Both sides approach the game in the first quarter on a more cautious note with Angola leading by 13-11 points, the African champion increased the tally in the second quarter 18-16 with the first half ending 31-27 points in favour of the winner with beautiful display of basketball skills by both sides.

The tally was further widened in the third quarter by seven points margin of 21-18 (52-45).

A late rally by Nigeria in the fourth quarter could not save the day for the coach Sam Vincent tutored side who were aiming to cut short the dominance of the Angolan with a 17-15 points for 67-62 points lose.

Angola has, however, qualified for it second consecutive world championship while Nigeria will aim for a shot at the third spot against the second semi final loser in a third place encounter that would be more tougher than the grand finale since the two finalists would have booked their place in the world cup.