D’Tigers of Nigeria became the first African team to qualify for the second round of the 2019 FIBA Men’s World Cup qualifiers after they walloped Uganda 109-66 on Friday.
Having recorded three wins in the second window of the qualifiers, D’Tigers only needed a point to seal their place as one of the three teams in Group B to advance to the next round.
Nigeria is currently hosting the third window of the qualifiers at the National Stadium, Lagos.
Rwanda and Mali are the other teams in the group.
The three qualifiers from Group B will be drawn alongside those from Group D, which include Senegal, Ivory Coast, Mozambique and the Central Africa Republic, in the second round to battle for the two automatic tickets. The second round begins in September.
“We have secured our win and we are so excited about this. We have a mixture of experienced and young but new players in this team. We will give the younger players more time on the court to see what they can do. I am really excited about the endless possibilities of the team going by their potentials,” Nigeria coach Alex Nwora said.
The win against Uganda increased the team’s winning streak to four in the qualifiers.
“From our next game, we will start preparing for September. If we are going to face countries like Senegal, Ivory Coast, Mozambique and the Central Africa Republic, who are also big names in African basketball, then we need to step up our game,” he added.
The first leg of the second round tournament will take place during the fourth window between September 10 and 18 before the return leg between November 26 and December 4.
