By Menelaos Sevastiadis
Nigeria, the team that finished just third in last year’s Afrobasket, gathered the best roster in its history and wrote a new golden chapter. With former ΝΒΑer Ike Diogu scoring 25 points, Nigeria beat Dominican Republic 88-73 in the third place game of FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament and will play in the Olympics.
It was a heartbreaking loss for Dominican Republic’s American coach John Calipari and his NBA star Al Horford who got early into foul trouble. However, Nigerians managed to beat Lithuania, Greece and finally the Dominicans, proving that they deserved a spot in the Olympics.
“Right now we are trying to become a world power,” said Diogu after the game and we will see if Nigeria can also make headlines in London. After the end of the pre-Olympic tournament the groups and schedule of the London 2012 Olympic Basketball Tournament have been finalized. Lithuania, Tunisia, USA, France, Nigeria, Argentina are in Group A and China, Great Britain, Brazil, Australia, Russia, Spain will play in Group B.