Diogu and Efevberha added to Nigeria's final roster for February's African Qualifiers
BAMAKO (FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 African Qualifiers) - Nigeria have finalized their roster for the first-leg of Group B of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 African Qualifiers in Bamako, Mali.
BAMAKO (FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 African Qualifiers) - Nigeria have finalized their roster for the first-leg of Group B of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 African Qualifiers in Bamako, Mali, and they made sure to add two prolific scorers.
Ike Diogu, who led Nigeria in scoring at FIBA AfroBasket championships in 2013 and 2017, is set to lead a team that also includes Michael Efevberha, who powered Nigeria's offense with a team-high 17.4 points per game in the 2009 edition of FIBA Africa's flagship tournament in Libya.
While this will be Efevberha's first appearance for Nigeria since 2009, Diogu sparked his country to a runners-up finish last at FIBA AfroBasket 2017 last September, and as a result, he was named the tournament's MVP.
| Nigeria's final roster for February's FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 African Qualifiers | |||
| Ayodeji Akindele | Ojo Michael Adetokunbo | Nwogbo Afam | Ike Diogu |
| Michael Efevberha | Obi Emenago | Omogo Emmanuel | Bryant Mbamalu |
| Christopher Obekpa | Ofoegbu Uche | Benjamin Uzoh | Tali Zanna |
Mike Efevberha @justmoneymike8 #DTigersSquad #FIBAWC #Naija 🇳🇬🏀 pic.twitter.com/6OJ1Wo8jVs
— BballNaija (@BballNaija) February 13, 2018
The first-leg of Group B of the World Cup African Qualifiers will run from February 23-25 in Mali, and Nigeria will face Uganda, hosts Mali and Rwanda.
At stake in the African Qualifiers are five tickets on offer for the continent's countries to reach the first-ever 32-team FIBA Basketball World Cup taking place in China from August 30-September 15, 2019.
FIBA