Joe Apu
Nigeria signed out of the FIBA Africa U16 championship on a winning note with a 54-53 points victory against Guinea to win the bronze medal.
Having narrowly missed out of the final and an eventual U17 World Cup ticket, the boys were determined to achieve a podium finish as they overcame a resilient Guinea.
Nigeria won the first quarter, 20-10 points but Guinea closed up the gap and both sides headed into the half time with 23 points apiece in a quarter that Nigeria only managed to score three points.
The second half started on a frenetic note with Guinea dominating the scorer’s chart to win the third quarter 14-11.
Nigeria rallied back in the 4th quarter to close out the game on 20-16 points and settled for a deserved bronze medal to equal their 2009 record.
Nigeria’s power forward Reuben Chinyelu won the highest rebounder award with 112 rebounds while Farouk Isah got voted alongside Youssouf Sangare (Mali), Ibrahima Diallo (Guinea), Maomen Abouzeid (Egypt) and Abdullah Ahmed (Egypt) as the competition’s All-Star Five.