{"id":8788,"date":"2013-08-22T01:45:17","date_gmt":"2013-08-22T01:45:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/disnaija.com\/nigeria-news\/basketball-nigeria-beats-mali\/"},"modified":"2013-08-22T01:45:17","modified_gmt":"2013-08-22T01:45:17","slug":"basketball-nigeria-beats-mali","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/disnaija.com\/basketball-nigeria-beats-mali\/","title":{"rendered":"Basketball: Nigeria beats Mali"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Nigeria\u2019s Basketball team, D\u2019Tigers began their campaign in the 2013 African Basketball Championship (Afrobasket) on a good note by beating Mali 74-59 in the opening match.<\/p>\n

The match which was tied at some points later had the Nigerian team dominating the last 30 minutes of play.<\/p>\n

D\u2019Tigers grouped in D would continue its campaign in the tournament playing Congo on Friday and another match against Cameroon on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Coach Ayo Bakare told newsmen after the match that the team\u2019s performance was not bad, adding: “It was a good performance, we finished well at the end.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Some fans, who spoke to NAN shortly after the match, said the team showed resilience all through the game.<\/p>\n

One of them, Sunny Ugbo, a Nigerian-based in Abidjan and a sports promoter, said the team had potential to go far in the tournament.<\/p>\n

“I am seeing a team with good combination and fighting spirit, at a time there was a tie, but they rose to make the difference in the end,\u2019\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n

Another supporter of the team, Festus Efosa, told NAN that he was happy seeing a Nigerian basketball team with enormous potential.<\/p>\n

“I must say that it was good display, the Malians cannot also be said to be a very bad side, they also did well, but we did better,\u2019\u2019 Efosa said.<\/p>\n

Also, Kelechi Franklin, a Nigerian, urged the team to keep up the spirit and stay focused on clinching the title.<\/p>\n

“My advice is that they should make us proud by winning the title. Their play today was good, I urge them to come out better in the days ahead.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Cameroon defeated Republic of Congo 74-43 in an earlier group match played on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

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