D’Tigers became the first team to qualify for the 2021 FIBA Afrobasket Championship after Wednesday’s hard-fought 75-70 victory over South Sudan at Salle Mohamed Mzali arena in Monastir, Tunisia.
In the first ever meeting between both teams in November 2020, D’Tigers defeated South Sudan 76-56 with Ike Iroegbu leading the offensive with 13pts, 8 assists, 7 rebounds and a steal while Caleb Agada scored 16pts and 2 assists.
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In Wednesday’s match, youngster Iroegbu continued from where he stopped in the first phase of the qualifiers as he contributed 16 points, seven rebounds, and five assists to D’Tigers’ victory.
South Sudan’s Nuni Omot was on rampage all through the night scoring 27 points, four rebounds, one assist, one steal and one block but his efforts were not enough to save his team from defeat.
Although the D’Tigers convincingly picked the first quarter 18-9, South Sudan stormed back to take the second quarter 21-20.
D’Tigers then replied by taking the third by a single point as it ended 18-19 but it was the Sudanese who ended the stronger of the two as they won the fourth quarter 22-18 points to ensure the four quarters were shared equally.
The 2015 Afrobasket champions will continue with the hunt for the ticket to the 2021 Championship when they battle Rwanda this evening in Monastir.
It will be recalled that D’Tigers defeated Rwanda 83-62 in the first phase of the qualifiers in Kigali on November 28, 2020.
