LUANDA (ANGOLA) – For their tournament opener, Nigeria handed Mali their second straight.

Led by Michael Afuwape, Nigeria recorded their first-ever win at FIBA AfroCan after finishing 0-3 in the inaugural edition of the tournament in 2019.

Though Mali put up some resistance in the final stretch, Nigeria kept the game under their control and cruised to a 62-56 win.

TURNING POINT : Nigeria led by as many as 14 points at some points in the game and never trailed.

HEROES: For their opening game, Nigeria could count on two heroes: skipper Michael, Chinedu Chimbuo and Ibe Abuchi Agu, who combined for 41 Nigeria points. 

They were the only three Nigerian players to score in double digits, each contributing 16, 15 and 10 points, respectively.  

Ibe Abuchi Agu 

Afuwape went on to further add 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals to his stats in a man-of-the-match performance.

Two players from Mali also finished with double digits to their credit, with Benke Diarouma scoring 11 points and Ousmane Traore adding 10 units to Mali’s total.

STATS DON’T LIE : Mali have had 25 turnovers during the game, and Nigeria clearly banked on that to keep their advantage, claiming 27 points.

With Mali's starting line-up struggling to lead their team its bench came up active, contributing 28 points - half of Mali's 56 points. 

Nigeria out-rebounded Mali 46-36.

BOTTOM LINE : Though they sometimes showed dominance in their games, Mali are now down 0-2. They will still play for the classification round on Wednesday and they will need to get their ideas together if they want to remain in the adventure.

However, Nigeria have shown that they are here for business. Though they clinch a very close win, their attitude on the court has been very commendable and they should be on everyone’s watchlist in the days to come.

THEY SAID : "We’re happy coming off this first game with a win against Mali, know how hard tournament openers can be. It’s a moral booster for us. Looking back at the game, Mali have been very resilient, they kept coming back and never gave up. So I think as from now, we need to be more careful with our turnovers.” Nigeria point guard Michael Afuwape.

FIBA