by Silalei Shani
When Nigeria’s women’s basketball team, D’Tigress, pulled off a historic upset in women’s basketball with a 75-62 defeat of Australia’s Opals in their opening game, the win resounded through African basketball.
Closing out the first half with a 13-point lead and on the back of Ezinne Kalu’s 19 points, Nigeria managed to hold off the Opals until the final quarter, when Australia cut down the lead to make it a one-possession game with 4 minutes left on the clock.
Amy Okwonkwo, who currently plays for French basketball club Bourges, delivered a clutch 3, allowing Nigeria to go on another run which extended to the final whistle and handed D’Tigress the game.
D’Tigress then faced France, backed by an energetic home team crowd at Pierre Mauroy Stadium, in their second group B game. Though the Nigerians showed moments of brilliance, France dominated from the first quarter, maintaining a lead that carried to the end of the match.
Despite the loss, Nigeria again turned heads and captured the attention of the world as they returned with a vengeance in their their must-win contest with Canada on Sunday, August 4, defeating the north Americans 79-70 to advance to the quarterfinals.
Ezinne Kalu led Nigeria with 21 points, while Shay Colley paced Canada with 17 points.
The first half was closely contested, with Canada taking a four-point lead into halftime. However, Nigeria’s relentless pressure in the second half proved too much for the Canadians to handle.
Nigeria outscored Canada 23-5 in the third quarter, including a 15-0 run that opened up an eight-point lead.
By the midway point of the fourth quarter, Nigeria’s lead had grown to 17 points, sealing the victory and eliminating Canada from the tournament.
The continent’s sole representative in the Men’s Olympic basketball side, South Sudan, also made history with their first Olympic victory in their first group stage match up against Puerto Rico.
Exceeding expectations, South Sudan pulled off a 90-79 victory. The last time the two teams met was at the FIBA World Cup where South Sudan lost 101-96.
The win was a collective effort, with five South Sudanese players scoring in double digits, led by Carlik Jones 19 points.
South Sudan faced the US side in their second group stage match, looking to deliver a dominant performance after an earlier match up where they narrowly lost to the Americans, 101-100.
However, despite a great effort and a brief lead in the first quarter, South Sudan trailed for the rest of the game, losing 103-86. Nuni Omot led the team in scoring with 25 points, while Bul Kuol and Marial Shayok added 16 and 12 points, respectively.
“I think tonight shows my ability of what I’m capable of doing,” Omot shared. “The Olympics is the 12 best teams that are competing right. Just to be able to be one of the 12 teams is an honor…People are going to know who South Sudan is.”
The South Sudanese came stunningly close to a monumental upset against the United States in a thrilling exhibition game in London on July 20.
Team USA, trailing by 16 points, had to rely on LeBron James’ clutch basket with just eight seconds left to secure a nail-biting 101-100 victory.
While Serbia defeated South Sudan 96-85 in their final Group C match, pushing the Africans into third place in the group and dashing their quarter-final dreams, the performances of both South Sudan and Nigeria have been enough to announce clearly to the world that Africa is to be taken seriously as a basketball powerhouse.
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Nigeria’s women’s basketball team, D’Tigress, achieved a monumental victory by defeating Australia’s Opals 75-62 in their group B opener, driven by Ezinne Kalu’s 19 points. Despite a strong second game effort, they lost to France but rebounded by beating Canada 79-70, advancing to the quarterfinals with Kalu scoring 21 points.
Similarly, South Sudan’s men’s team celebrated their first Olympic win against Puerto Rico with a 90-79 score, led by Carlik Jones with 19 points. They later faced a formidable U.S. team and suffered a 103-86 loss, despite Nuni Omot’s 25 points. South Sudan also came close to upsetting Team USA in a previous exhibition game but fell short 101-100.
Although South Sudan ended their group stage with a loss to Serbia, both South Sudan and Nigeria’s performances have highlighted Africa’s growing prominence in international basketball.
