FIBA Africa has granted Nigeria a wild card slot for the second AfroCan Basketball Championship scheduled to hold in Luanda, Angola, from July 8 to 16, 2023.
Nigeria missed automatic qualification for the championship by losing to hosts, Cote d’Ivoire, 74 to 65, in the combined FIBA Africa Zone 2 and 3 qualifiers in Abidjan at the weekend.
In the final game against Cote d’Ivoire, Nigeria had to contend with bad calls and on several occasions, D’Tigers’ Head Coach, Ogoh Odaudu, had to confront the centre referee for clarity.
The first quarter ended 19 to 17 points in favour of the hosts, while at halftime it was 36-36. The Ivoiriene, however, opened a five-point lead at the close of the third quarter 56-51 before sealing the game by 74 to 65 points.
For finishing second in the qualifiers, FIBA gave the final wild card slot to Nigeria.
In the AfroCAN Championship, D’Tigers will play in Group B with hosts, Angola, and West African powerhouse, Mali.
Cote d’Ivoire are in Group A with Kenya and Gabon, Morocco, Tunisia and Rwanda make up Group C, while Group D has Cameroun, DR Congo and Mozambique.
