D’TIGERS of Nigeria head coach Mohamed Abdulrahman and guard Ike Nwamu have expressed mixed feelings about the team’s elimination from the 2025 AfroBasket in Luanda, Angola.
The 2015 African champions were beaten 91-75 by Senegal last night, ending their quest in the quarter-finals.
While Abdulrahman admitted that the defeat was a hard pill to swallow, he still expressed pride in his players for their efforts.
“In a night we were supposed to bring out A-game we felt short,” he said in his post-game interview.
“I am not taking any credit away from Senegal, they deserve the win. I am proud of how we played. We have an identity now and we are just moving from it.”
D’Tigers won all three of their group games and were not expected to capitulate to Senegal so easily.
The result left a bitter taste in Nwamu’s mouth.
“It hurts. We had high hopes; we a had a really good group, fun group, we all love each other, but it’s part of the game, one team has to win, another team has to lose,” he noted.
“It was not our day today. They came out with more energy, We were kind of flat to start. They are a really good team; they got lost of high level players, it was their night tonight.”
Senegal will face Mali in the semi-finals on Saturday for a place in Sunday’s final.