Basketball
FRANCE BAG BACK-TO-BACK FIBA WORLD CUP THIRD-PLACE FINISH
France got the better of Australia, 67-59, in a see-saw encounter in the Third-Place Game at the Beijing Wukesong Arena to bag their second consecutive top three finish at the FIBA Basketball World Cup.
Just like in their Semi-Finals loss to Argentina, the French slogged through another slow start in a Second Round rematch with Australia, but this time Les Bleus mounted a successful rally late in the third quarter to pull the rug from under Australia and repeat the success of Spain 2014.
As Rudy Gobert and Frank Ntilikina struggled, coach Vincent Collet turned to Nicolas Batum, Nando De Colo, Vincent Poirier and back-up point guard Andrew Albicy in their stirring comeback from as many as 15 points down in the second half.
De Colo led France with 19 points, while Evan Fournier added 16. Albicy stepped up in a big way, hitting three triples in the fourth quarter to boost France’s comeback effort. The Boomers were paced by 17 points from Joe Ingles.
Turning Point: Australia opened up what seemed like a commanding 15-point lead, 38-23, after Joe Ingles drove on Utah Jazz teammate Rudy Gobert and hit the ensuing bonus free throw, but an unsportsmanlike foul by Boomers guard Chris Goulding moments later killed the Aussie momentum and energized the French. Since Goulding’s critical foul, coach Collet’s side would then outscore Australia, 39-17, the rest of the way.
TCL Player of the Game: Nando De Colo came off the bench and provided a big spark for France, scoring 14 of his 19 points in the second half just when France looked on the verge of folding. Aside from scoring, De Colo also added 3 assists, 2 steals and 3 triples to his stat-line.
Stats Don’t Lie: The last time these two teams met, France lost the rebounding battle 30-23. This time around, Les Bleus did a much better job, outrebounding Australia, 38-36. In addition, when their starters sputtered, France’s second unit carried much of the scoring load. The French bench outscored their Boomers counterparts, 38-9, with all but two points coming from the trio of De Colo, Albicy and Poirier.
Bottom Line: For the second edition in a row, France finished on the World Cup podium, bringing home a medal and ending their campaign in China on a very strong note.
Australia finished top four at the World Cup for the first time, but as this is their second time losing in the third-place game after also falling short in Rio 2016, the Boomers have some soul-searching to do.
They Said: “Huge congratulations to France. It’s tough. We just entered the locker room, and you could hear a pin drop. To everyone in Australia who supported us, it all means the world to us. We gave it everything we had. To drop the last two games is never what you want, but we fought to the very end with pride and with passion. I couldn’t be prouder of the team we had and the guys beside us every day.” – Australia guard Mitch Creek
“The biggest hurt comes from having a group of guys who are so committed and passionate to play for the country because they want to rep Australia on the world stage and do something special. To see the hurt in those guys, that’s the bit that’s hard to overcome. There’s so many people involved in basketball in Australia who were hoping for a medal and you want to win for them, but unfortunately, we weren’t able to get that done.” – Australia head coach Andrej Lemanis
“For sure today was a great comeback, but we deserve where we are now. Australia played a real good game, but we never gave up and we stayed together. This made the difference, and this was really good for us.” – France guard Nando De Colo
“It’s something very special and important because we did it after a difficult first and second half. Many other teams could have given up, but we stayed focused and never gave up. Suddenly when it was looking done for us, we started to play much better on offense and defense. At half-time, we said that we just had to find some execution on offense. We started to move the ball better in the second half and that’s why we won this game.” – France head coach Vincent Collet
FIBA
Musa Kida, the president of the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF), has been appointed as a non-executive chairman of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), the country’s apex oil company. His appointment is part of the sweeping overhaul that the Nigerian president, Bola Tinubu made in the first working day after the Sallah break.
The sacking of the board of the NNPC sees the appointment of Bashir Bayo Ojulari as the new Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO), replacing Mele Kolo Kyari. Prior to his current appointment, Kida was the Deputy Managing Director, Deep Water Services, of Total Nigeria.
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Basketball
NSC DG Bukola Olopade Congratulates NBBF Boss Musa Kida for new appointment as NNPC Chairman
The Director General of the National Sports Commission NSC, Bukola Olopade, has congratulated the President of the Nigeria Basketball Federation, NBBF, Musa Kida, for his appointment as the new Board Chairman of the Nigeria National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Olopade said Musa Kida has been one of Nigeria’s most efficient and Productive Sports administrators who has sacrificed a lot for the growth of Nigerian Basketball.
The DG maintained that his latest appointment is a testament to his years of passion, hard work, dedication and a very successful track record in the oil sector for more than two decades.
” Musa Kida is an accomplished administrator whose achievements cut across both the oil sector and Nigerian basketball. I have no doubt that the NNPC Limited will attain better efficiency and attract more investment under his watch”.
” Under his leadership as the President of the Nigeria Basketball Federation, we have seen the steady growth of the country’s basketball and how the National teams have continued to achieve new heights.
” At the last Olympic Games in France, the Nigeria Women’s Basketball team, D’Tigress was one of the shining stories for Team Nigeria, where they set a new record by making it to the knockout phase before losing to the United States”.
” I personally know the efforts behind the scenes that kida put in for Nigeria to achieve that feat with the girls in France and the Nigerian girls have been an unrivalled team on the continent for some time now”.
The DG added that he does not doubt that Musa Kida will use his new position to further earnest the development of Nigerian Sports especially basketball especially now that there is a new focus on growing a sustainable Sports Economy.
” Whilst the Oil sector will benefit immensely from the Expertise of Musa Kida as the new Board Chairman of the NNPC Limited, Mr President, has further helped to place Nigerian Sports in a better pedestal by putting one of us in a very strategic place like the NNPC”, he concluded.
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Basketball
FIBA names Nigeria’s Agada among those who starred the most on the last day of the 2025 AfroBasket Qualifiers
The 16 teams that will be competing at this year’s FIBA AfroBasket from 12-24 August have been confirmed, with some teams securing their places on the final day of qualifying.
A quintet of individuals put in stellar performances to send their teams to this year’s African championship in style.
Teams have 169 days to prepare for the 2025 edition of the AfroBasket set to be hosted by former champions Angola, who will be chasing a record-extending 12th title.
FIBA- Africa looked at the matches and the players and featured nine players who were the stars of the final day on Sunday.
Here is FIBA’s analysis: The return of the Tokyo Olympian has been a blessing for Abdulrahman Mohammed’s Nigeria.
For the second game in a row, Agada was a thorn in their side’s side, scoring 23 points in a convincing 77-62 win over 2021 AfroBasket semifinalists Cape Verde.
The 30-year-old played just over 30 minutes and finished two rebounds shy of a double-double while adding six assists and five steals for an efficiency rating of 29.
Nigeria entered the competition after an 0-3 start, but his disruptive presence on the floor helped them to a 3-0 run to qualify, averaging 19 points, 7.7 rebounds and 6.3 assists.
The other players highlighted are: Ousmane Drame of Guinea, Karim Maneof Senegal, Childe Dundao of Angola, Siriman Kanoute of Mali, as well as Ntore Habimana (Rwanda) Aliou Fadiala Diarra (Mali) Allan Dokossi (Central African Republic)and Nisre Zouzoua (Cote d’Ivoire)
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