Senegal will square off against Nigeria’s D’Tigers in a mouth-watering AfroBasket 2025 quarterfinal showdown Wednesday after overcoming South Sudan 78-65 in their Round of 16 matchup on Monday night in Luanda.
It was Brancou Badio who stole the spotlight for Senegal, delivering a game-high 31 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists to power his side past a spirited South Sudanese team.
Senegal’s balanced approach, particularly their dominance on the glass with 51 total rebounds compared to South Sudan’s 37, proved pivotal in sealing the victory.
South Sudan fought hard and briefly threatened a comeback, with Nuni Omot (13 points, 9 rebounds) and Dhieu Deing Gach (14 points, 4 rebounds) leading the charge.
However, their late push wasn’t enough to overturn Senegal’s double-digit lead.
Nigeria’s D’Tigers had already booked their quarterfinal ticket after a flawless group-stage campaign.
They opened with a 77-59 win over Madagascar, followed it with a dominant 87-66 victory over defending champions Tunisia, and then capped it off with a thrilling 99-90 triumph against Cameroon on Sunday.
By topping Group B unbeaten, D’Tigers joined hosts Angola, Ivory Coast, and Egypt as the four teams to qualify directly for the last eight.
Senegal’s victory means they now stand in Nigeria’s path to the semifinals.
The Lions, who finished second in Group D, have shown resilience throughout the tournament and will test D’Tigers’ credentials.
Nigeria, meanwhile, enter the knockout rounds as one of the favourites to reclaim the AfroBasket crown, last won in 2015.
The eagerly anticipated clash will take place on Wednesday at the Pavilhão Multiusos de Luanda, with a semifinal berth on the line.
Nigeria vs Senegal: 5-3 Head-2-Head
Between 2001 and 2023, the senior men’s basketball teams of Nigeria and Senegal have met eight times with the D’Tigers having an upper hand with five wins to Senegal’s three.
Two of D’Tigers’ five wins were incidentally in the Afrobasket Championship in 2015 and 2017. In 2015 when Nigeria won her first and only Afrobasket title in Tunisia, Al-Farouq Aminu then playing for NBA side, Portland Trail Blazers led the assault in the 88-79 semi-final defeat of Senegal.
Also in their title defence in 2017, D’Tigers again beat Senegal 76-71 in the semi-final but lost the title to Tunisia. Their third win, 89-61 over Senegal was in the 2018 World Cup qualifiers.
The fourth and fifth wins for D’Tigers were in the FIBA African Championship for men in 2009 (76-58) and 2001 (80-65).
Senegal’s first win over Nigeria was in the 2013 FIBA African Championship for men in Abidjan, a point win of 64-63 in the quarter-final. They also won 84-63 in a FIBA World Cup African qualifiers in 2019 and 93-87 in a FIBA Olympic pre-qualifying tournament hosted in Nigeria in 2023.
In today’s Afrobasket quarter-final game, the D’Tigers are hoping to extend their wins to 6, otherwise Senegal will close the gap to 5-4.
