Nigeria’s men’s basketball team, D’Tigers, in the early hours of Sunday, July 11, 2021, pulled off a shocking win over the United States of America, considered to be the best in the world.
Gatekeepers News reports that Nigeria beat the U.S. 90-87 in Las Vegas at Mandalay Bay Arena.
This marks the USA’s first-ever defeat to an African opponent.
“We just wanted to compete,” Nigeria‘s Gabe Nnamdi said
“We know what USA Basketball means around the world and what they’ve stood for so long.”
US coach Gregg Popovich said: “I thought that the Nigerian team played very physically, did a great job in that regard and knocked down a lot of threes. “Give them credit.”
Nnamdi led Nigeria with 21 points. Caleb Agada scored 17 points, Ike Nwamu added 13 and Nigeria outscored the US 60-30 from three-point range while outrebounding the hosts, 46-34.
Kevin Durant, who had never before played in a loss for USA Basketball in 39 senior international games, had 17 points. Jayson Tatum added 15, Damian Lillard had 14 and Bam Adebayo 11.
Gatekeepers News reports that D’Tigers will continue their preparations for the Tokyo games with another exhibition game against Argentina on Monday, July 12 in Las Vegas.
