We had high hopes - Nigeria's D'Tigers lament AfroBasket exit to Senegal

Nigeria's national men's basketball team, known as D'Tigers, saw their hopes of winning the AfroBasket title dashed in a 75-91 defeat to Senegal in the quarterfinals of the tournament.

D'Tigers came into the clash at the Pavilhão Multiusos de Luanda in Angola having topped Group B with victories over Madagascar, Tunisia, and Cameroon.

However, despite edging out Senegal 24-23 in the first quarter, Nigeria's D'Tigers were dominated to the next two quarters which determined the outcome of the game

The Lions would hold on to get revenge for losing the 2015 final to Nigeria's D'Tigers and advance to the semifinals of the competition.

After the game, Nigeria head coach Mohamed Abdulrahman spoke at the press conference to explain the blow out loss.

He said, "In a night we were supposed to bring out A-game we felt short.

"I am not taking any credit away from Senegal, they deserve the win.

"I am proud of how we played. We have an identity now and we are just moving from it."

Join our WhatsApp channel for live updates on Sports and to stay informed

Team captain Ike Nwamu explained the details that led to the their lose of composure after a hot start.

He added, "It hurts. We had high hopes; we a had a really good group, fun group, we all love each other, but it's part of the game, one team has to win, another team has to lose.

"It was not our day today. They came out with more energy, We were kind of flat to start.

"They are a really good team; they got lost of high level players, it was their night tonight."

D'Tigers will now focus on getting a good result in the upcoming classification games for the FIBA rankings.