Nigeria wins the Gold in Maputo - Sep 19, 2011 (by Eurobasket News )
Nigeria's D'Tigers on Saturday won the gold medal in the mens Basketball event as the national team defeated their host, Mozambique, 62-57 in the final before a huge home crowd.
D Tigers had defeated Angola, the former African Champions, at the semi-finals to set up the epic encounter with Mozambique while the host defeated Algeria, another tough nut, to qualify for the finals [read more]
Nigeria's D'Tigers on Saturday won the gold medal in the mens Basketball event as the national team defeated their host, Mozambique, 62-57 in the final before a huge home crowd.
D Tigers had defeated Angola, the former African Champions, at the semi-finals to set up the epic encounter with Mozambique while the host defeated Algeria, another tough nut, to qualify for the finals.
The Nigeria Basketball team played a defensive game contesting every ball with their opponent to lead 18-14, 28-24, 46-43 and eventually at 62-57 in the four quarters of the game.
The Mozambican fans started trooping into the Desportivo Sports Centre, Maputo, as early as noon for a match scheduled to start at 8 p.m. but did not begin until 8:30 p.m.
However, the Nigeria team, who were not intimidated by the packed crowd at the indoor sports hall, played their hearts out and eventually won the deserved gold medal.
After the epic encounter, the green-white-green Nigerian flag took centre court as the players and few Nigerians who watched the match celebrated.
President Armando Guebuza of Mozambique, who witnessed the defeat of his team, presented the medals to the Nigerian players.
However, Sani Ahmed, Coach of Nigerias DTigers, says the gold medal won is a mission accomplished through hard work, determination and discipline exhibited by the players.
''We set out to accomplish this mission and I am very happy that we were able to pick the gold medal and also defeat the Angolans in the semi-finals.
Coach Sani said the team would return home and immediately commence preparations for the 2012 London Olympic Games.
Also reacting to the victory, Muktar Khaleh, the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) Technical Director, said winning the gold medal at stake at the games was an indication that basketball was developing in the country.
Khaleh, a one-time National Team Captain, said the Federations next objective would be to win the African Womens Championship beginning next week in Mali.
The technical director expressed the hope that with the performance of the mens team at the Games, the women would be motivated to perform well in their tournament in Mali.
Courtesy of http://nigerianpilot.com
Mozambique and Nigeria to meet in the Finals - Sep 19, 2011 (by Eurobasket News )
The Mozambican men's basketball team won its semi final in the 10th All Africa Games in Maputo on Friday night, defeating Algeria by the considerable margin of 68-45.
The Mozambican team was dominant right from the start, offering no chances to the Algerians. The Mozambicans were winning 30-21 at the end of the first half, and the gap just widened during the rest of the match, until Mozambique ended 23 points ahead of Algeria [read more]
The Mozambican men's basketball team won its semi final in the 10th All Africa Games in Maputo on Friday night, defeating Algeria by the considerable margin of 68-45.
The Mozambican team was dominant right from the start, offering no chances to the Algerians. The Mozambicans were winning 30-21 at the end of the first half, and the gap just widened during the rest of the match, until Mozambique ended 23 points ahead of Algeria.
In the second semi-final, the hitherto undefeated Angolan team lost to Nigeria by 62-56. The Nigerians took an early lead and finished the first half ten points ahead of the Angolans. The Angolan team clawed something back on the second half, but not enough to avoid defeat.
Mozambique now meets Nigeria for the final on Saturday night, while Angola meets Algeria to decide the bronze medal.
Mozambique retains hopes of a medal in the men's basketball tournament at the 10th All Africa Games in Maputo, after a one point victory over Nigeria on Monday evening.
Initially, the teams seemed balanced, and the first quarter of the game ended with each on 18 points. But in the second quarter the Nigerians pulled away, so that, by the end of the first half, they were defeating Mozambique by 33 to 25 [read more]
Mozambique retains hopes of a medal in the men's basketball tournament at the 10th All Africa Games in Maputo, after a one point victory over Nigeria on Monday evening.
Initially, the teams seemed balanced, and the first quarter of the game ended with each on 18 points. But in the second quarter the Nigerians pulled away, so that, by the end of the first half, they were defeating Mozambique by 33 to 25.
The Mozambican team recovered in the second half of the match, correcting its mistakes, and just 13 seconds before the end of the game took a one point lead, beating Nigeria 66-65.
In the other three basketball matches played on Monday, Algeria beat Rwanda (60-54), Angola beat South Africa (78-59), and Cape Verde beat Ivory Coast (72-41).
In the handball tournament, the Mozambican womens team lost to Senegal on Monday by 31-28. Mozambique goes on to meet Madagascar on Wednesday.
In the other womens handball match of Monday, Ghana beat Madagascar by 26-24.
In the mens handball, Gabon won a convincing 41-27 victory over Madagascar, and Kenya beat Ghana by 33-31. But none of these teams are in contention for any medals.
Mozambique, coming second in Group A of the mens tournament, has qualified for Tuesdays quarter-finals, and will meet Algeria, which came top in Group B. The other three quarter finals are Cameroon vs Senegal, Egypt vs Nigeria and Angola vs Congo.
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