Italy Advances To Olympic Quarterfinals, Tops Nigeria 80-71
Jul 31, 2021, 4:45 AM
Olumiye Oni #13 of Team Nigeria shoots against Niccolo Mannion #1 of Team Italy during the second half of a Men's Basketball Preliminary Round Group B game on day eight of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Saitama Super Arena on July 31, 2021 in Saitama, Japan. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
(Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
SAITAMA, Japan (AP) — Italy is headed back to the Olympic quarterfinals, ousting Nigeria to clinch that spot.
Nicolo Melli scored 15 points, Nico Mannion had 14 and Italy used a 14-0 run in the fourth quarter to rally and beat Nigeria 80-71 in the Group B men’s basketball finale for both teams on Saturday.
Chimezie Metu scored 22 points and Jordan Nwora added 20 for Nigeria.
Three painful losses.
D’Tigers’ run comes to end. We’ll be back. #Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/gzPAgsobuX
— D’Tigers | Nigeria Basketball #Tokyo2020 (@NigeriaBasket) July 31, 2021
Utah Jazz guard Miye Oni scored three points on 1/8 shooting, including 1/6 on three-pointers. He added two rebounds and two assists in 21 minutes on the court.
Miye Oni’s Olympics are over as Nigeria lost to Italy in their group play finale.
Oni scored 3 points on 1/8 shooting and had 2 rebounds and 2 assists.
— Ben Anderson (@BensHoops) July 31, 2021
The Nigerians opened the summer with exhibition wins over the U.S. and Argentina in Las Vegas, but went no further in their first Olympic appearance under coach Mike Brown.
A young team with a very bright future.
Thank you for those who supported & the true fans that’ll stick with us.
We’ll be back. 🇳🇬 pic.twitter.com/lpeadENTLs
— D’Tigers | Nigeria Basketball #Tokyo2020 (@NigeriaBasket) July 31, 2021
