You will have to go way back 35 years since Nigeria suffered a huge defeat [1985 AfroBasket Egypt 105-51] like that inflicted by Ivory Coast on Friday night at the Palais des Sports de Treichville.
Ivory Coast, who still have an outsider’s chance of securing a ticket for the 2019 World Cup in China struck D’Tigers with a humiliating 76-42 victory.
The Nigerian side, although had qualified with a 9-0 record, struggled to get shots away; shooting 36% from 2pts a meager 4% from 3pts and won 14 rebounds less than the hosts.
Only Ike Diogu managed to register double digits; scoring 10points, with 8 coming from the charity strip, with a game high percentage of 80%.
However, he shot 1-12 in field goals in 26:38 minutes on the floor.
Head Coach of D’Tigers Alex Nwora had promised his team would keep their focus and not slack off despite having picked a world cup ticket, but the Ivoriens knocked the wind from their sails and ends the last unbeaten run in the Africa zone qualifiers.
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