Angola were far from playing a convincing and attractive game, but they managed to beat Nigeria 57-48 and advanced to the 2023 FIBA AfroCan Quarter-Finals.
The tournament hosts turned the ball over 30 times, but D’Tigers could only score 19 points off Angola’s sloppy plays.
While the Angolans remain undefeated (2-0), Nigeria dropped to 1-1 in Group C.
Kanyisola Odufuwa opened the score with a two-point play that gave D’Tigers their only lead of the game before Glofate Buiamba hit a three-point that put Angola in front and they never trailed again.
At some point, Angola led by as many as 22 points and despite outscoring Angola 15-8 in the final quarter, Nigeria paid the price for allowing easy baskets early in the game.
Although Buiamba – the only Angola to score in double figures – finished with 13 points, Wilson Cassav came off the bench to change the dynamic of the game for Angola.
This was after he finished with eight points and eight rebounds in 19 minutes.
Cassav was four for four from the field, although he missed his two free-throw attempts.
Angola coach Anibal Moreira, after the match, chose to praise his players’ efforts rather than single out one player.
“I am glad we came up with the win even though we had 30 turnovers,” said the former Olympian point guard.
A relatively shorter roster compared to D’Tigers, Angola dominated the boards battle, out-rebounding Nigeria 51-38.
The only reason why Nigeria failed to capitalise from Angola’s sloppy plays and came up short was because of their poor shooting.
D’Tigers converted only 12 of their 56 shooting attempts, which resulted in a 21.4 per cent shooting.
With D’Tigers starting line-up struggling to score, their bench couldn’t do any better, falling 34-13 comparing to Angola’s substitutes.
The tournament, which dunked off on Tuesday, is expected to end on Sunday in Luanda.
