The Nigeria Men U18 Basketball National Team bounced back from their first game defeat against Egypt to defeat Angola on Saturday, 7 August 2024 at the FIBA U18 Afrobasket going on in Pretoria South Africa, Sports 247 reports.
The heavyweight clash in Group B which sets Six-time winner, Nigeria against Angola, a four-time winner lived up to all the pre-match hype as the capacity crowd at University of Pretoria’s Rembrandt Hall were thoroughly entertained as the Angolans suffered their first loss in the group B, after opening day victory over Uganda.
Nigeria had to lift themselves from a 10-point deficit early in the fourth quarter to clinch a 70-65 win against Angola in one of the most exciting games of the day.
Nigerian duo Isaac Ezekiel (21 points, six rebounds) and team captain Azeez Sulaimon (20 points, seven rebounds, six assists and ten steals) put Nigeria on victory in the Group B battle.
For Angola, Mateus Abraem led Angola with 14 points, while team captain Aguinaldo Neto contributed 12 points. David Youdela and Josema Cesar scored 11 points each.
Nigeria dominated Angola in the paint, scoring 14 of their points in that area – the West Africans also profited off their opponent’s sloppiness in possession, scoring 13 points from turnovers.
Mercurial point guard Sulaimon’s nine points helped Nigeria close out the first half 32-24 while Angola’s seasoned floor general Neto led his country with six points.
Both teams traded points in the final minutes – an Abraem two-pointer and a Youdela three giving Angola a 49-42 lead, but five points from Azeez, which included a buzzer-beater three, closed the game to two from Nigeria.
A Neto triple kicked off a 10-point run for Angola for a 57-47 lead, but Nigeria would regain the initiative with a 14-point scoring run with two three-pointers from Ezekieal.
Nigeria led 67-53 and never looked back. With the win, they are still in with a shot at the next round.
In the other group B, leader Egypt stormed past Uganda 73-50 to post a 2-0 record in Group B. Omar Aly’s 15 points, Ali Assran’s 11 points, and 10 points from Mohamed Shahin contributed to the North Africans getting a perfect record in the tournament.
Uganda also had three players score double-digits. Brighton Galiwango (11), Musiime Kagaba (11) and Mukisa Mubiru Nkugwa tried to help their nation’s cause, but their second-half struggles came to the fore, as in the opening encounter against Angola.
Egypt was jittery early on in the game after going 2-0 down – Amhed El Gahri subbed out his starting five. The new five brought in the energy Egypt needed, scoring 14 points, with point guard Shahin leading the team with eight points, which included two three-pointers.
The Young Pharaohs raced to a 15-11 lead at the end of the quarter. In the remaining three-quarters, the Egyptians were dominant as the East Africans had no answers.
The final round of matches in the group will determine who goes into the next round as Egypt takes on Angola and Nigeria faces Uganda
