Nigeria Outlasts Cameroon to Seal Quarterfinal Spot in 2025 AfroBasket

D’Tigers of Nigeria advanced to the quarterfinals of the ongoing 2025 FIBA Afrobasket following an exhilarating 99-90 victory over Cameroon in their final Group B clash inside the Pavilhão Multiusos de Luanda, Angola, on Sunday. The victory saw the 2015 Champions finish with a 3-0 record in the group phase with wins over Madagascar, defending champions Tunisia and the latest being Cameroon, who were tasting defeat for the very first time in Angola. In what was dubbed as one of the most highly anticipated games of the tournament having faced each other thrice in the competition before today, D'Tigers now hold 3–1 head-to-head advantage against a side who emerged as the second-highest scoring team with an average of 83 points per game in their first two games.

Josh Okogie again was the standout player for Nigeria as he finished with 16 points, just two points above Stan Okoye who posted 14 points while Caleb Agada and Christian Mekowulu combined for 25 points at the end of the game. Okogie who was Nigeria's most efficient player by the ratings also contributed 2 rebounds and 6 assists while Agada and Okoye both helped the team with 6 and 7 rebounds respectively.

For Cameroon, Fabien Ateba led all but a late resurgence with 19 points and 2 rebounds with 15 of the points coming from beyond the arc as shot 5-of-12 attempts from the three point range. Yves Missi was the most efficient Cameroonian as he finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds with Jeremiah Hill also rounding off with 14 points and 3 rebounds.

The Indomitable Lions of Cameroon started brightly with a 7-0 run in the opening quarter before Nigeria started fighting its way back. The frantic plays continued for both teams as they were still finding baskets to close out the first quarter at 28-25. A much more intense battle was expected in the second quarter but it was the Nigerians who capitalized on Cameroon's lapses to race to a 32-16 win thereby extending the lead as they headed into the break with a 60-41 scoreline.

D'Tigers established a decisive advantage in the second half, outscoring Cameroon 26-12 in the third quarter to take a 31-point lead into the final period but Cameroon responded with a 37-13 fourth-quarter rally, forcing Nigeria into making turnovers, using the fast breaks and improved on securing baskets from beyond the arc to neutralise Nigeria's complacency. In the end, it proved insufficient to overcome the points garnered by Nigeria in the first three quarters as the West Africans maintained its lead to secure the victory and become the only side so far in this edition to record 15 three-pointers in a game, the most by any team in the competition.

DTigers captain Ike Nwamu who finished with 12 points and 3 rebounds shared his thoughts on the feat achieved by his team with AfricaBasket.

“It was a good game, it was a hard-fought game. We knew we had to really come out and play hard. We had a really good opponent. We got a little sloppy at the end but it's great for us because we were able to learn from some things.”

He further added on how they rotated on Jeremiah Hill knowing how important he was for the Lions. 

“We knew he's their engine and we have a lot of really good guards that can play really good defence and we were just rotating on him so we're really tough to play against from the guard position. We're a defensive team, we're a tough team and defence travels and we're able to play defence no matter if we're making shots or not. So that's our hard hat right there.”

Cameroon’s head coach Alfred Aboya also had a chat with AfricaBasket after the tie.

“I thought we weren't physical enough to start the game. They were really physical. Hand in the passing lane, put the body in gaps. They got some deflection, the steals. I think that's what happened. In a game like this, you need to find your stride early. It took us a while to find our stride. A lot of lessons to learn from this game and we're going to learn those lessons and move forward.”

With this result, Nigeria wins the group and advances directly to the quarterfinals while Cameroon, as the group runner-up, will now face DR Congo, third-place team from Group A in the next round where they will fight for a spot in the quarterfinals.

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