The male basketball team of Nigeria has lost a second consecutive game in the ongoing Tokyo Olympics.
D’Tigers, as the side is called, lost to Germany 99-92 early on Wednesday morning.
Johnannes Voigtmann scored 19 points for Germany who used a 14-0 run in the final minutes to pull away; beating Nigeria by a seven points margin.
Moritz Wagner scored 17 points, while Danilo Barthel scored 14, Maodo Lo had 13 and Andreas Obst finished with 12 for Germany (1-1).
Barthel was subbed in after Wagner got his fourth foul late in the third quarter — and made a big impact.
He was 4 for 4 from the field in the final period, including the basket that started the 14-0 run that broke an 81-81 tie and put the Germans on top for good.
For Nigeria, Jordan Nwora scored a massive 33 points, while Miye Oni scored 15. Nigeria made 17 3-pointers, but the team was outscored 19-7 from the foul line.
1st News reports that the side’s poor shooting from the free throw line was also their downfall in the first game against Australia. Whereas the team matched their opponents in all other dimensions of the game; their dismal return from the free throw line cost them heavily.
Interestingly, both sides let double-digit leads slide.
The Associated Press reports that Germany started the game on a 22-12 run. Nigeria responded with a 15-2 burst to take a 27-24 lead early in the second quarter.
Then it was Nigeria’s turn to grab and cede control; going on a 16-5 run to open the second half put the D’Tigers up 11.
However, Niels Giffey’s 3-pointer rattled in as the third-quarter horn sounded and sent the teams in the final period tied at 74.
The lead changed hands five times in the opening minutes of the final quarter. Nevertheless, Germany put together a decisive run and wound up taking a big step toward qualifying for next week’s knockout stage.
Both teams will finish their round-robin Group B schedules on Saturday.
Nigeria faces Italy while Germany takes on Australia.
Real Source: 365MediaHub