Nigeria beat Angola 74-65 in the Final of the 2015 AfroBasket Championship that took place in Rades, Tunisia. Capturing their first ever continental championship, Nigeria joined the United States, Australia and Brazil as the teams confirmed so far for the 2016 Summer Olympics to be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Angola, a 12 time AfroBasket Champion, were hurt by poor ball movement and torrid shooting that saw the Nigerians led as many as 19. Chamberlain Oguchi scored a game high of 19 points, knocking down three three-pointers. The game turned when Oguchi hit a three with 3:28 to go in the second quarter to give Nigeria a 23-19 lead and the Nigerians went to the locker room at halftime with a 37-24 lead.
Another key aspect of the game that hurt the Angola, 2013 AfroBasket Champions was their foul trouble in the second quarter. They committed as many as 12 personal fouls during the period sending the Nigerians to the free-throw line 16 times.
Despite losing in the Final, Angola still have a chance to make it to the Rio next year. They along with third place Tunisia and fourth place Senegal qualify for the Olympic Qualifying tournaments to be held next year.
A total of 9 Olympic berths will be confirmed by the end of the summer after FIBA Americas, EuroBasket and FIBA Asia Championship conclude.
Team | How |
United States | 2014 World Cup Champions |
Brazil | Host |
Australia | FIBA Oceania Champion |
Angola | AfroBasket Champion |
Team 5 | FIBA Americas Champion |
Team 6 | FIBA Americas Finalist |
Team 7 | EuroBasket Champion |
Team 8 | EuroBasket Finalist |
Team 9 | FIBA Asia Champion |
Team 10 | 2016 Qualifiers |
Team 11 | 2016 Qualifiers |
Team 12 | 2016 Qualifiers |
The remaining three spots on the Olympic Men’s Basketball field will be filled with the top 3 finishers from the 2016 Olympic Qualifiers tournament. The 2016 Qualifiers is a 12 team tournament, which so far has 4 spots booked by New Zealand (FIBA Oceania Runners-up), Angola, Tunisia and Senegal.