Jordan Nwora produced a game-high 33 points, Miye Oni added 15 points but the effort was not enough as Nigeria was unable to top Germany, falling to 0-2 in the Tokyo Olympics.
Precious Achiuwa registered nine points, two rebounds, two blocked shots and one steal during the 99-92 loss, which tipped off at 10 a.m. local time on Wednesday (9 p.m. Tuesday EDT). He battled foul trouble throughout the contest and finished with 16 minutes of playing time.
Nigeria trailed by 10 points early in the first half, but rallied back to tie the contest up at 50 points apiece at the intermission. They opened up the third quarter on a run, taking a 14-point lead midway through the period, but allowed Germany back into the contest for good.
Germany, who was led with 19 points by Johannes Voightmann and 17 points from Mo Wagner, outscored Nigeria 25-18 in the final frame to improve to 1-1 in Group B.
Pain. đź’”
33 points from @JordanNwora wasn’t enough. #Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/uu7HwQjgek
— D’Tigers | Nigeria Basketball #Tokyo2020 (@NigeriaBasket) July 28, 2021
The loss to Germany comes after Nigeria was defeated 84-67 by Australia in its opener on Sunday. Obi Emegano paced Nigeria with 12 points while Josh Okogie had 11 points and Achiuwa chipped in 10 points, six rebounds and three steals.
After losing its first two contests, Nigeria faces long odds to advance out of Group B into the quarterfinals. They will wrap up preliminary play on Saturday (12:40 a.m. EDT) against Italy in a matchup that could prove to be meaningless for Achiuwa & Co.
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The men’s basketball quarterfinals in the Olympics will start on Aug. 3 and consist of the top two teams in each group from the preliminary phase plus the two best third-place teams.
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