Nigeria’s J’Tigers Bow Out Of U-18 Afrobasket

By Onoja Baba, Nigeria

Nigeria’s Under-18 Men’s Basketball team, the J’Tigers, has exited the 2024 Afrobasket U-18 Championship following an 81-70 loss to Mali in the quarterfinals on Thursday night.

The Malian team, aggressive from the onset, took an early lead with a 23-19 win in the first quarter and maintained their advantage through the halftime break at 40-38. Despite the J’Tigers’ efforts to regain control, Mali held firm and secured the victory in Pretoria, South Africa.

The Junior D’Tigers had earlier advanced to the quarterfinals by defeating Uganda 72-61, while Mali secured their spot with a 73-69 win over Ivory Coast. With the win, Mali moves on to the semifinals, and the winners and runners-up of the championship will qualify for the FIBA World Championship in Switzerland.

Meanwhile, Nigeria’s Under-18 Women’s Basketball team, the J’Tigress, advanced to the semifinals on Wednesday after defeating Egypt 61-56. They will face Uganda in the semi-final stage on Friday night.

In a parallel development, Rwanda’s Under-18 men’s national team was eliminated from the FIBA AfroBasket 2024 after a 53-67 quarterfinal loss to Cameroon at the University of Pretoria Gymnasium on Thursday.

Although Rwanda started strong with a 16-14 lead in the first quarter, Cameroon fought back to win the second quarter 22-16, heading into halftime with a 36-32 lead. Rwanda briefly regained momentum in the third quarter, winning 17-15, but Cameroon dominated the final quarter 16-4 to secure their place in the semifinals.

Cameroon’s Amadou Seini stood out with a team-high 15 points and 23 rebounds, while Hermann Bel Daryl Bay also contributed 15 points. For Rwanda, Dylan Kayijuka led the scoring with 19 points, followed by Sean Mwesigwa with 12 points. Rwanda will now compete in classification games for the 5th to 8th positions.