Ibe Abuchi Agu led posted a double double and game highs 23pts and 15rebs to fire Nigeria’s Africa Basketball League debutants, Civil Defenders to a 67-59 opening day win over BC Terreur in group B.
Abuchi, who recently returned from the FIBA World Cup qualifiers with D’Tigers, propelled the Defenders after a lackluster first quarter performance were they trailed by more than half in a 7-18 against BC Terreur.
The Nigerian side struggled to get their shooting rhythm on from the 3pts range and ended up with a 0-14 record.
But they made up for the lapses with good defensive play in the post; really both ends coming off tops in the head to head battle.
Meanwhile, only one other Defenders player posted double digits; Ochebi Okpe scored 13points and was 9 off the board, 7 of those from a defensive position.
Next up for the Nigerian side is the battle against ES Rades for a spot in the next round.
Defenders (2) go up against ES Rades (1) on Saturday at the Hall des Arts Loisirs et Sports, Cotonou at 3pm [local time].
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