Nigeria stun Lithuania 86-80 to qualify for the next round; FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Men
The third game of day 3 in the FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament saw Nigeria and Lithuania go head to head, and after a thrilling encounter the Africans surprisingly emerged triumphant 86-80.
Paced by 20 points from forward Derrick Obasohan, four Nigerians ended the night in double scoring figures. New Orleans Hornets star Al Farouq Aminu nearly notched up a double-double with 16 points and 9 rebounds; Ike Diogu netted
11 points and hauled down 8 rebounds and Anthony Oludewa Skinn ended the game with 15 points.
Nigeria made a quick 7-2 start, but the Lithuanians quickly caught up and a Linas Kleiza three pointer tied the scores at 9 with 6:18 to go in the first quarter.
The game was tied five times in the remainder of the period, which ended at 20 apiece.
Nigeria took control of the game early in the second and pulled of a 13-6 run inside the first four minutes. Sarunas Jasikevicius responded for the Europeans with five consecutive points, starting an 8 point unanswered run which
was capped by a three point play from Kleiza.
The burst gave Lithuania a 34-33 lead, but it was short lived as Al Farouq Aminu reeled off a personal 5-0 spurt. Lithuania responded again and tied the game at 38, but with 11 seconds remaining on the clock, Skinn nailed a three
pointer to give Nigeria a 41-38 lead.
The opening two minutes of the third were owned by Obasohan. The 6 ft 6 forward drilled three pointers on either ends of a 10-2 run, in which he also scored a deuce. The spurt gave Nigeria a 51-40 lead, but for nearly three minutes
that followed, they failed to score.
Jasikevicius scored five for Lithuania during that span and then deep in the frame Kleiza orchestrated an 8-1 run to make it 53-56.
The Africans however had the better of the last minutes, in which they outscored the opponents 11-4 and went into the fourth with a 67-57 advantage.
Staring at a ten point deficit, the Lithuanians went for the kill early. They opened the last quarter with 9 straight points to make it a one point game and remained within striking distance till the last two minutes.
With 1:35 left to play, Lithuania were trailing by just 78-80 and with the momentum on their side, it seemed that they would overcome the Nigerian resistance. However a Diogu three point play followed by a trey from Skinn provided
an exclamation mark to their charge.
Lithuania were led by a 22 point effort from Kleiza and now play Puerto Rica in the 1/8 playoffs. The Nigerians on the other hand will take on Greece tomorrow.
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