Nigeria’s basketball team slumped to their third defeat of the Olympic basketball competition as they lost to Spain 96-87.
The Afrobasket champions had led 66-65 at the end of the third quarter but were slow out of the blocks at the beginning of the fourth quarter, allowing the Spanish, led by NBA veteran Pau Gasol to build up a seven-point lead which D’tigers couldn’t claw back.
D’tigers coach Will Voight will be encouraged by his side’s performance as they overturned an 11-point deficit in the third quarter to lead by one going into the final ten minutes.
It was a strong showing from the team’s star player Chamberlain Oguchi who recorded a game high 24 points, aided by some mean shooting from the three point line. Nigeria’s next game is against Croatia and the team will need to win in order to keep alive any slim hopes of qualification.