Nigeria’s Under-18 Men’s Basketball team, the J’Tigers, have been knocked out of the 2024 Afrobasket U-18 Championship following an 81-70 loss to Mali in the quarterfinals on Thursday night. The game, held in Pretoria, South Africa, saw Mali take an early lead, winning the first quarter 23-19 and maintaining a slim advantage at halftime with a score of 40-38.
Despite the J’Tigers’ efforts to regain control, they could not overcome Mali, who secured their place in the semifinals. Earlier in the tournament, Nigeria had advanced to the quarterfinals by defeating Uganda 72-61, while Mali had triumphed over Ivory Coast 73-69.
In other tournament news, Nigeria’s Under-18 Women’s team, the J’Tigress, advanced to the semifinals after a 61-56 victory over Egypt. They will face Uganda in the semifinal match scheduled for Friday night.
Meanwhile, the Rwanda Under-18 Men’s team also exited the competition after a surprising 53-67 quarterfinal defeat to Cameroon, also on Thursday. Rwanda initially led by two points after the first quarter but fell behind as Cameroon gained momentum, winning the second quarter 22-16 and dominating the final quarter 16-4.
Cameroon’s Amadou Seini led his team with 15 points and 23 rebounds, supported by Hermann Bel Daryl Bay, who also scored 15 points. For Rwanda, Dylan Kayijuka scored 19 points, with Sean Mwesigwa adding 12. Rwanda will now compete in a classification game for positions 5 to 8.
The winners and runners-up of the championship will qualify for the FIBA World Championship scheduled to take place in Switzerland.
Written By : Idu Sunita