After a perfect group stage, Senegal brought D’Tigers back to earth at the 2025 men’s Afrobasket championship in Angola, winning the quarterfinal clash in Luanda.
D’tigers beat Madagascar, Tunisia, and Cameroon to record a 3-0 win in the group stage.
Nigeria started well, leading after the first quarter, winning by one point, 24-23.
A poor second quarter ended 18 – 30, with Nigeria not having an answer to all the questions the Senegal offense was asking.
The Senegalese pulled away in the third quarter, keeping Nigeria to 13 points while recording 23 points.
D’Tigers pulled a 9-0 run in the first two minutes of the 4th quarter, giving hope of a comeback, but could only muster a 20-15 result.
Branon Badio led all scorers with 32 points, Jean Boissy 21, and Moustapha Diop 14. However, Ike Nwanu scored 15 points for Nigeria; Stan Okoye scored 14, while Caleb Agada and Martins Igbanu scored 12 points each.
Meanwhile, Senegal will meet Mali in the 1st semifinal on 23rd August.
The win by Senegal brings Nigeria back to earth to earn them a 5th straight Afrobasket semi-final appearance.
Two other Quarterfinal matches will be decided tomorrow between all-time Champs, Angola, that won the title 11 times, and Cape Verde, while the other Quarterfinal game will be between the Pharaohs of Egypt and the Lions of Cameroon.
Earlier in the evening, Mali slammed the Ivory Coast 102-96.
The team will regroup and return to compete in the 2027 FIBA World Cup qualifiers.
