By Mark Ogagan
Nigeria’s dream of reaching the final of the 2025 AfroBasket Men’s tournament ended on Wednesday when D’Tigers lost to Senegal by a massive score of 91-75 in Luanda, Angola.
D’Tigers thus became the second team to reach the quarterfinals undefeated — after Côte d’Ivoire — to see their AfroBasket title aspirations come to an abrupt end.
Brancou Badio put on a show leading Senegal in scoring with 32 points.
An exhilarating opening quarter saw Senegal and Nigeria tirelessly trading blows, but Nigeria led 24-23 after seven lead changes.
Jean Jacques Boissy hit a three-pointer on Senegal’s first possession of the second quarter to give them a 26-24 lead. Another three-pointer from Amar Sylla extended Senegal’s lead to 29–24, and Nigeria never led again.
Senegal maintained their momentum with a 13-5 run before Nigeria called a timeout to minimize the damage.
However, there wasn’t much they could do, as Senegal appeared to be relentlessly dominant.
Senegal led by as many as 24 points in the third quarter. Senegal will take on Mali in the Last Four. They had previously beaten Mali 80-70 in Group D.
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