Vanterpool: D’Tigers’ Heart and Resilience Key in Guinea Win
The Nigerian basketball team’s assistant coach David Vanterpool praised his players’ resilience and togetherness after D’Tigers secured a dramatic 80-79 victory over Guinea in the World Cup Qualifiers.
‘They were able to fight together, fight in frustration; they were able to stand a good Guinea team, coming back and take an eleven-point lead and still get off the floor and get the win. I just give a lot of credit to our guys; they showed so much heart, resilience, determination and togetherness,’ Vanterpool said after the game.
He emphasized that the mission remains unfinished: ‘Our goal was to come here and win three games. Job is not done, we still have a lot of work to do; we are going back to the drawing board to continue preparing this team.’
Caleb Agada, who led Nigeria with 22 points, three rebounds and four steals, echoed the sentiment, revealing the mindset behind the performance.
‘After the game yesterday [against Tunisia], we had a players-only meeting and one of the emphasis was to come out with energy and play with pride,’ he explained.
Nigeria began with urgency, forcing four turnovers in the opening three minutes and converting them into seven points.
They dominated the first half, building an 11-point cushion and heading into halftime with a 46-40 lead.
Guinea, however, showed why they had entered the contest with a perfect 4-0 record. Sekou Doumbouya’s basket gave them their first lead at 49-48, and Shannon Evans’ buzzer-beating three-pointer pushed Guinea ahead 68-62 at the end of the third quarter.
Nigeria refused to fold. With Guinea leading by one in the final seconds, Uche Iroegbu drove into the paint and found Chimezie Muti, who calmly scored the winning basket. Guinea had three seconds to respond, but Nigeria held firm to claim the victory.
Agada’s all-around display was supported by Kaodirichi Akobundu (14 points) and Iroegbu (10 points).
The result lifted Nigeria to 3-2 with one game remaining, while Guinea suffered their first defeat of the campaign, dropping to 4-1.
Nigeria now stand one step closer to returning to a world competition for the first time since the 2021 Olympics.
