D’Tigers defeat Libya to keep Afrobasket qualification hopes alive

Nigeria’s D’Tigers defeated Libya 75-70 in their fourth game of the 2025 FIBA Afrobasket qualification tournament.

D’Tigers outlasted the Libyans in an ebb-and-flow match in front of a hostile crowd at Grand Hall, Tripoli, on Friday.

The victory was Nigeria’s first of the qualification campaign after the team lost all three games in the previous window.

D’Tigers had lost the first game of the qualifiers to Libya after overtime in 2024, but a different Nigerian side played the return leg.

Only two players from the previous window made the D’Tigers roster for the final lap of the qualifier. The team’s technical crew was also rejigged. While Mohammed Abdulrahman remains the D’Tigers head coach, his staff have been replaced with Deji Akindele, a former Nigerian international, and Isikaku Smart, an assistant coach with the Portland Trailblazers.

The team must win at least two of three games to get their qualification hopes alive, and that was what they set out to achieve from the tip-off.

D’Tigers started the game well and registered a 6-point lead in the first few minutes, but the Libyans chased them down and took the first quarter 15-14.

Libyans held the lead through the second quarter and were ahead 35-32 by halftime.

But the third quarter brought respite for Nigeria as D’Tigers began their resurgence and established a 52-51 lead into the break.

The team held on in the last quarter and earned a vital 5-point victory over the North Africans.

D’Tigers will play Uganda in their fifth game of the qualifier on Saturday before facing Cape Verde a day after.

Nigeria remain at the bottom of the qualification group after four games. Only the top three teams will qualify for the 2025 Afrobasket in Angola.