After hard fought victories against South Sudan and Rwanda recently at the 2021 Afrobasket qualifiers, D’Tigers shooting guard, Keith Omoerah, says the team should be prepared for more difficult games on the continent.
Many expected and predicted a stroll in the park, but were shocked when D’Tigers had to dig deep before pulling off a 75-70pts win against South Sudan in their first game and another 64-51pts victory against Rwanda.
The player who is currently with Mykolaiv in Ukraine reckoned that kudos must go to their opponents for putting up a good fight to make them sweat for the wins.
“We didn’t have as big of wins this time around against South Sudan and Rwanda unlike when we met the first time and that’s credit to them. Every time we play a team we are going to get their best effort, especially in Africa and that was apparent in those games. We have to be ready for that and we will be”.
The highest point scorer for the team against Rwanda with 13pts and rebounds attributed his rich form during the qualifiers to the trust and confidence in the Nigeria basketball Federation, coach staff and the players.
“I first need to thank the organization (NBBF), coaches and players for the honour and privilege to play for the wonderful country of Nigeria again. I was just playing my role and doing what I could to help the team win. Everyone on the team trusts each other and we all believe in each other. So that made it easy for us to play with confidence”.
Now that the qualification series is over, Omoerah who became a part of the national team set up during the 2019 World Cup qualifiers said the players will continue to work harder to stay in shape ahead of a busy schedule in the summer when the team will be participating at the Olympics and Afrobasket championship.
“We will continue to work as hard as we can and try to play at the top of our games. We have to make sure to finish the season healthy and then we will prepare for a big summer ahead for Nigerian Basketball.”
Nigeria confirmed its supremacy on the continent emerging as the first country to qualify for the 2021 FIBA Afrobasket to be held in Rwanda later this year.77
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