ABIDJAN (Cote d'Ivoire) – Having recorded a loss on the opening day to Guinea, Nigeria made a strong comeback defeating Benin 78-51 on Saturday.

Nigeria Captain, Victor Eze was instrumental in relaunching Nigeria's bid to try to qualify for the 2023 FIBA AfroCan.

He led the way with 21 points, 2 Assists and 2 steals for a +22 efficiency to his credit.

Victor Eze

Eze was followed by teammate Ibe Abuchi Agu who scored 13 points, grabbed 6 rebounds, and contributed 2 steals.

Head coach of Nigeria, Ogo Odaudu said after the game that it was great to record the win.

According to Odaudu: "It was a good day for us. We played a lot better than we did against Guinea. The loss to Guinea was painful; It's a game we should have won. The players are getting better by the day. You can see that we played better against Benin than was the case against Guinea. We will work on the team to win the game against Cote D'Ivoire."

Benin's Vivien Cocouvi Tossou and Soulémane Chabi Yo had 14 points and 13 points, respectively but it was not enough to upset the Nigeria side that fell 15-10 in the first quarter but won the next three quarters.

Benin's Romaric Quenum attributed his team’s loss to lack of experience on the part of some members of his team who are making their first international appearance for Benin.

"We made a lot of mistakes against Nigeria. At the end of the first quarter when we led Nigeria, many of my teammates felt that they had arrived the big stage and forgot that we had three more quarters to go. I can excuse them because this is their first time out to represent the country but it’s important that we should take the lessons from the games we have played here back home to make necessary corrections for those coming behind us," Quenum said.

COTE D'IVOIRE IMPROVE TO 2-0

In the second game of the day, Cote d'Ivoire had to dig deep to overcome hard-fighting Guinea and consolidate their chances of picking the sole ticket for the region for the Final Round.

The host defeated Guinea 88-64 to put one foot in Angola, having won two games out of three.

For the second day running, Lionel Kouadio led the Ivorian side with 18 points, 5 assists and Mike Fofana scored 17 points while contributing 9 rebounds and 5 assists to help their side to victory.

Though Guinea's Ibrahima Doumbouya scored a game-high 26 points  it was not enough to overcome the home team that was cheered by the handful of spectators.

The last games of this FIBA Africa Zone 2+3 Qualifiers will see, on the last day of competition, Benin face Guinea while host Cote d'Ivoire confront Nigeria.

As of Saturday, July 1st, Cote d'Ivoire lead the standings with two wins, while Guinea and Nigeria sit second and third, respectively with a 1-1 mark apiece. 

FIBA