Nigeria’s D’Tigers delivered their most dominant performance of the qualifying window on Sunday, routing Rwanda 106-62 to book their place in the second round of the FIBA Basketball World Cup African Qualifiers.
The victory completed a perfect three-game window for Nigeria, who had earlier defeated Tunisia and Guinea to revive their World Cup hopes under head coach David Fizdale.
Uche Iroegbu led the charge with 17 points and seven assists, controlling the tempo as Nigeria overwhelmed Rwanda on both ends of the floor.
Caleb Agada, Ikechukwu Mekowulu and Stan Okoye also made strong contributions, scoring 13 points each in a display that underlined D’Tigers’ attacking depth.
Nigeria started fast and never allowed Rwanda back into the contest.
D’Tigers won the first quarter 25-14 before stretching their lead to 49-29 at halftime.
Fizdale’s men tightened their grip in the third quarter, opening up an 80-44 advantage before closing out the game with another ruthless fourth-quarter performance.
The win came after Nigeria opened the window with a narrow 84-81 victory over Tunisia before fighting back to beat Guinea 80-79.
D’Tigers had entered the window under pressure after winning just one of their first three games in the previous round.
Nigeria finished on 10 points, level with Tunisia and Guinea, as the top three teams from each of the four groups advanced to the second round.
The second round will be played between August 2026 and February 2027.
The remaining 12 teams will be divided into two groups of six, with results from the first round carried over.
The top two teams in each group, along with the best third-placed team, will qualify for the 2027 FIBA Basketball World Cup in Qatar.
