D’Tigers  on Thursday defeated Cameroon 106-91 in to reach the semifinals of  the 2017 FIBA Africa Championship in Tunisia and Senegal.

In the fifth meeting between the two sides, Nigeria  dominated three quarters of the game, losing one to the Lions.

D’Tigers won in the first, second and fourth quarters while Cameroon took the third quarter.Defending champions Nigeria took the first quarter 25-18 before extending their lead at half time with a 27-25 win in the second quarter.

The Lions rallied back in the third quarter with a 27-23 win but D’Tigers roared into the semifinals with a 31-21 win of the last quarter.

Captain Ike Diogu  weighed in 28 points and nine rebounds while Bryant Mbamalu had 22 points and two rebounds and Deji Akindele scored 13 points and five rebounds. Washington Wizards’ Daniel Ochefu had the highest rebounds in the team with 10 and Ike Iroegbu made seven assists.

Cameroon had four players on double figure points led by Beniot Mbala, who had 32 points and 10 rebounds. Arnaud-William Adala-Moto also weighed in 20 points while Felix Bogmis had 25 points and Robert Sognolo-Njigol accounted for 12 points.Nigeria converted 58.33 per cent of their two-point field goal against Cameroon’s 39.02 per cent.

The Lions converted 40 per cent of their three-point field goals against D’Tigers’ 61.54 per cent. Cameroon had seven steals against Nigeria’s two.Cameroon had 12 points from their bench while Nigeria had 20 points from the bench. D’Tigers converted 66.67 per cent of their free throws but Cameroon converted 68 per cent of their free throws.

Reports by Miyen Akiri