Nigeria’s men’s basketball national team suffered an embarrassing defeat to Uganda on Tuesday to crash out in the second round of the 2021 Afrobasket Championships in Kigali.

D’Tigers, one of the pre-tournament favourites, were second best against the Ugandans for all four quarters with the East Africans full value for their 68 – 80 victory at the Kigali Arena.

American coach Mike Brown will point to a roster of inexperienced players many of whom were playing in an international tournament with D’Tigers for the first time but being humiliated by supposedly inferior opposition in the first knockout round was certainly not envisaged when they arrived in Kigali.

A loss to Cote d’Ivoire in their final group game raised concerns about the team’s ability to go all the way in Rwanda. Those concerns have proved to be well-founded following the shameful loss to Uganda.

The defeat is yet another setback for Brown following the disappointing outing at the Tokyo Olympics where D’Tigers crashed out in the group stage after losing all three group games.