Libya defeated Nigeria’s senior men’s basketball team, D’Tigers, in their opening group game at the ongoing AfroBasket 2025 qualifiers in Tunisia.
D’Tigers arrived on the day of their opening game and went to the venue from the airport.
With just nine players available and no proper preparations the team still took the game to overtime before eventually losing 89-82 to Libya.
The team had initially withdrawn from the qualifiers due to lack of funds.
But the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) rallied round for funds which saw the team head for qualifying tournament.
D’Tigers will hope to bounce back from the defeat to Libya when they face Uganda in their second group game today (Saturday).
Meanwhile, the other game in the group saw Cape Verde beat Uganda 78-73.
After one round of games played, Libya are top, Cape Verde in second place while Uganda and Nigeria are third and fourth respectively.
The AfroBasket 2025 qualification will be played from February to November 2024, to determine the 16 nations who will qualify for the FIBA AfroBasket 2025.