BENGHAZI (Afrobasket 2009) – Nigeria edge Cote d’Ivoire in a tough challenge 93-84

Nigeria quest of a Turkey 2010 World Championship ticket got off on a bright note in her group-A opening game against fellow FIBA Africa Zone-III neighbour, Cote d’Ivoire winning the explosive match by 93-84 points.

Both team shared the four quarters evenly with Nigeria winning in the first and third quarters (25-14 and 22-09) while their Ivories counterpart had the better of the game in the second and last quarter (26-18 and 35-28).

Nigeria led on the board with 48 rebounds to Cote d’Ivoires’s 37 but the Elephants had the biggest scoring run of 12-0 points and scored a 10 fast break points to Nigeria six.

Nigeria young guard, Michael Efevberha who is making his debut for his fatherland led the floor with 29 points and 4 assists he was followed by Italy-based centre, Ayodeji Akindele who had a double double of 12 points and 10 rebounds, point guard, Joshua Akognon contributed 16 points with Jayson Obazuaye scoring 10points and 6 rebounds.

Didier Tape led the Cote d’Ivoire side with 16 points 3 rebounds and 3 assists, Mohamed Kone had a big game of 13 rebounds and 12 points while Sernan Konate recorded 15 points against his name on the score-sheet.

FIBA Africa