President of the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF), Tijani Umar, has lauded the efforts of players and officials of the senior national men’s team at the just concluded Afrobasket Championship in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire.
In a message to the team as they departed Abidjan after the competition, Umar noted that D’Tigers contingent to the tournament possesses all the attributes of a dream team, urging them to keep believing ahead of the better days ahead.
“It is still my firm belief that our team had all the trappings of a great team and great teams to my knowledge have the greatest propensity to experience adversity and their greatness shows in the way they rise again after faltering,” he wrote.
“Let me use this sober moment to thank you most sincerely for the sacrifices and hope that we can in the near future pull up together to redeem our name and put smiles back on the faces of our devastated fans around the world.”
The Ayo Bakare-led team won all group matches against Mali, Congo and Cameroon to proceed into the knockout stage where they humbled Central African Republic, before being edged out by Senegal.
Co-captain of the team Ike Diogu apologised to Nigerians after the loss, stressing that the team will be ready to build on their experience from the 2013 tournament.
“We appreciate the opportunity given to us to represent our country and the support from our fans back home. We promise to come back stronger and win the championship because we ae capable of doing just that,” said Diogu.
D’Tigers finished the 2013 Afrobasket in 7th position, after losing to Cape Verde and winning Morocco in the classification round.
