SAITAMA (FIBA World Championship) - The Nigerian team will leave Saitama this evening disappointed after their heartbreaking 78-77 defeat to Germany in the second round of the FIBA World Championship but very proud of the effort they gave throughout and even more so in their final game.

Sam Vincent's men - who qualified for the knockout stages after finishing third in Group A - pushed last year's EuroBasket runners up all the way and were a basket away from going through to the quarter-finals where they would have gone up against Team USA.

And among all the positives taken from this tournament, one of the biggest ones will be the play of forward Ekene Ibekwe who today was one of the main reasons why Nigeria could even consider the thought of going through to the quarter-finals.

Ibekwe finished with a game-high 22 points and 10 rebounds and had to go head to head with Dirk Nowitzki for most of the game.

FIBA correspondent Simon Wilkinson caught up with him after the Eight-Final against Germany.

FIBA: Obviously it has to be very hard to lose in the closing seconds of the game, but there are many reasons to feel good about this game.

Ibekwe: Yeah definitely. This is a tough loss but it's a great result for Nigeria basketball. I'm really proud of my team-mates. We've been through a lot these last couple of months. We didn't have a lot of time to train together so we were still trying to get to get to know one another during these games and figure our roles out there on the court, but this is all very encouraging for the team.

FIBA: Sam Vincent talked about Nigeria basketball being in a three-year development program. How does this performance today and your overall play in the tournament help Nigeria in this development phase?

Ibekwe: Well it's a huge step forward. We played really hard and we pushed a top ten team in the world to the very last second. To play against Germany and have the outcome of the game come down to the final possession is really a great experience and it's going to enable us to take a step in the right direction in the development of our team and of basketball in Nigeria as a whole.

FIBA: What does this performance prove to other teams who maybe didn't know before the start of the tournament or even in the second round what to expect from you?

Ibekwe: Well now we know and people will also know that the Nigerian team can compete against some of the best teams in the world and make it a close game. That's a great feeling.

FIBA: You had your best game of the tournament with 22 points, 10 rebounds and some good highlights. That's a great way to finish the competition before you go back to Maryland for your senior season.

Ibekwe: I just wanted to play well for my country. For me personally as a college player, this was a great experience - one that I couldn't pass up. To get the chance to come out here and go up against the likes of Dirk Nowitzki and Boris Diaw. That's the reason why I came out here. It's tough to play against those guys but I enjoyed the challenge.

FIBA: Can you talk about having to defend a player like Dirk?

Ibekwe: As you can imagined it's very hard. You're talking about an All-Star and one of the best players in the world. I told myself I would come out and try to do my best to slow him down. I wanted to contain him and not let him get any easy shots and go for a 40-point game.

FIBA: Your coach, Sam Vincent, has played a huge part in getting this team to this tournament in the time that he has been in charge. Tell us a bit about him.

Ibekwe: He's just a great coach. He has been getting us going throughout this competition and even when we had our bad games in the group stages he was there for us, getting us motivated and ready.

FIBA: Thanks and well done to Nigeria.

Ibekwe: Thank you.

By Simon Wilkinson, FIBA