Houston Rockets guard Josh Okogie led Nigeria to a statement victory over defending champions Tunisia at the 2025 FIBA Afrobasket on Friday, Afrosport reports.
The 26-year-old delivered a commanding performance as the D’Tigers stormed to an 87-66 win over the Carthage Eagles at the Helmarc Arena in Luanda, Angola.
NIGERIA WINS!! 2-0!
Took care of the defending champions!! pic.twitter.com/lOdMoxehcW
— D’Tigers | Nigeria Basketball (@NigeriaBasket) August 15, 2025
Nigeria entered the contest second in Group B, having comfortably dispatched Madagascar in their tournament opener. However, facing a Tunisian side that had won the last two editions of the competition posed a far sterner test — one Abdulrahman Mohammed’s men passed with flying colours.
The D’Tigers came out firing, racing to a 10-0 lead and claiming the first quarter 29-16 — a statement of intent that set the tone for the remainder of the match.
The Tunisians improved defensively in the second quarter, but Nigeria remained sharp and won the period 19-17, establishing a 15-point advantage at the break.
It was all just clicking for the D’Tigers, who dominated at both ends of the floor, stretching their lead to 21 points after three quarters. Though they eased off slightly in the final period, Nigeria never fell behind and matched Tunisia point-for-point, with the quarter ending 19-19.
Okogie, relatively quiet in the opener, exploded with a game-high 33 points in just 24 minutes — the most by any Nigerian player at the tournament since 2021. He also pulled down six rebounds, shot an efficient 12-of-19 from the field, and was perfect from the free-throw line.
With the former Minnesota Timberwolves star carrying much of the offence, Caleb Agada — the standout performer against Madagascar — added nine points, while Emmanuel Omogbo contributed eight off the bench.
Bulk of Tunisia’s scoring came from Omar Abada, who finished with 15 points. Yacine Toumi added 13 points and grabbed a game-high seven boards, while Achref Gannouni chipped in nine points as a substitute
The result sees Nigeria return to the summit of Group B with two wins from two matches. They now await the outcome of the Cameroon and Madagascar clash to determine the group dynamics ahead of the final round of fixtures.
The D’Tigers will close out their group campaign on Sunday against Cameroon, while Tunisia face Madagascar.
