Nigeria’s male Basketball team, D’Tigers on Saturday morning lost to Italy in their final group game of the ongoing 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
The Nigerian team grew into the encounter after a slow start which saw them lose the 1st quarter by 12 points (29-17).
They picked up in the 2nd quarter beating the Italians by 11 points (11-22) to reduce the gap to just a point going into the break.
D’Tigers took the lead by seven points after defeating Italy 16-22 in the 3rd quarter but went to sleep in the 4th quarter picking up just eight points (24-8) to leave the final scores at 80-71.
It was not the kind of game expected from D’Tigers and also not the kind of performances expected from them in Tokyo after defeating Team USA and Argentina in warm-up games.
A 29-17, 11-22, 16-22, 24-8 (80-71) scores against Italy meant D’Tigers lost all of their group games in Tokyo having previously lost to Australia 84-67 and Germany 99-92.