Australia have crushed Nigeria in the final warm-up basketball game ahead of Olympics.
Gatekeepers News reports that Team Nigeria, D’Tigers have suffered a 108-69 defeat to Team Australia, the Boomers in their last tune-up game ahead of Tokyo Olympics on Wednesday.
This was a reality check for the high-flying Nigerians who earlier earned historic victories over Team USA and Argentina recently.
The game started with the Nigerians paying tribute to the late Sound Sultan, spiral out of their hands as the Australians raced to a fast 10-4 lead in a blink of an eye.
Having defeated Team USA in less than 24 hours to the game, the Boomers manifested unmatched brilliance as they end the quarter with a 13-point lead (26-13).
D’Tigers head coach, Mike Brown, after the first quarter, charged his boys to intensify their defending to have a chance against the third-ranked nation in the world.
Brown said, “Truth is we’re not defending. You got to give the Australians credit. They are one of the top ten teams in the world.
“They know they are good. And we’re not. We are still trying to find our identity. We thought we are going to walk in here and take it to these guys, but we can’t.
“And if we don’t defend, we are going be in trouble, not only tonight but at Olympic time.”
The boys, however, couldn’t keep it tight, as the Boomers continued their dominance, with the second quarter ending with a comfortable 20-point lead – 49-29.
The margin which rose to a 38-point lead at the end of the third quarter – 84-46, eventually finished 108-69 with the D’Tigers thoroughly beaten.
Obi Emegano and Josh Okogie led Nigeria with 10 points apiece, followed by Jahlil Okafor, who hit seven points and five rebounds alongside Ike Iroegbu, who also scored the same number of points.
On the other side, Chris Goulding led Australia with 21 points, three rebounds, and four steals.
This defeat was D’Tigers’ first since Brown took over the team in 2020.
The coach is expected to disclose his final 12-man list before finally departing for Tokyo on July 17.
Nigeria, therefore, hopes for a far better result when they face Australia in their first game at the Olympics on July 25.
