D’Tigers set unwanted record in 89-82 loss to unranked Libya

Nigeria’s D’Tigers has become the first top-10 team in Africa to lose a game to an unranked team after they crashed 89-82 to Libyan in their opening game of the 2025 AfroBasket Qualifiers holding in Monastir, Tunisia.

The Nigerians who arrived with just nine men a few hours to their opening game against the unranked Libyans lost the game in the first 2025 AfroBasket Qualifiers game decided in overtime due to their bench.

Libya’s Mohamed Sadi was the tormentor-in-chief of the Libyans who inspired the north African side to the historic overtime win .

He scored and created shooting opportunities for others, disrupted Nigeria’s offense on several occasions, and put his body on the line against taller and heavier opponents when his team needed him to.

The Libyan recorded a remarkable triple-double of 24 points, 12 assists and 10 steals, a feat never seen in the history of the AfroBasket Qualifiers. Sadi added 9 rebounds to his account.

Sofian Hamad came off the bench with an 18-point performance and Mohamed Buzgaiya added 15 points and 8 rebounds to help Libya to a promising start to the qualifiers.

Mike Nuga was Nigeria’s go-to man leading all players in scoring with 31 points, but D’Tigers’ 27 turnovers proved costly to a team that landed in Tunisia only a few hours before their first Group B game.

Libya head coach Fouad Chakra however praised D’Tigers for taking the fight to them.

‘Nigerian players never gave up; they played us zone 1-2-2, and our shots weren’t falling. At the end of the fourth quarter we had to come back and we succeeded to to take the game game to overtime.’