Nigeria Shocks USA, Beats Them In Friendly Basketball Game

Nigeria stunned the United States men’s basketball team 90-87 in a pre-Olympic exhibition game at Mandalay Bay Arena in Las Vegas on Sunday.

Jameela News reports that the match-up was to serve as one of the tune-up games arranged by the Nigeria Basketball Federation for the team as they prepare for the next Olympics where they’ll face Australia, Germany, and Italy in Group B.

Gabe Vincent, Caleb Agada, and Precious Achiuwa were impressive in the match.

Nigeria converted 20 three-point throws from 42 attempts in the game with six of the 20 coming from Gabe Vincent who led the team in scoring with 21 points, four assists, and two rebounds.

Caleb Agada had 17 points, three rebounds and two assists in 16 minutes while Ike Nwamu finished the game with 13 points, seven rebounds and three assists in 18 minutes. Ike Ireogbu was also impressive in the game scoring 11 points.

While on the other hand, Kevin Durant led the U.S. with 17 points, Jayson Tatum added 15 and Damian Lillard scored 14 points and Bam Adebayo 11 in a disappointing outing for the reigning Olympic champions.

Reacting to the win, Vincent hailed the impact of Nigeria’s team’s head coach Mike Brown on the squad.