India go down fighting to Nigeria in men's basketball

Melbourne, Mar 17 (UNI) Inspired by top scorer Riyazuudin, India put up a defiant show against formidable Nigeria before going down to the African champions 84-113 in their opening match of the men's Basketball competition of the Commonwealth Games here tonight.

Though India lost, they were not disgraced as they gave their rivals a good run for their money. It was indeed refreshing to see the Indians playing and countering every move of their opponent on equal footing.

India played an attacking game from the very start. Riyazuddin, skipper Trideep Rai and S Johnson formed the trio which troubled the rivals throughout the match.

Though the Nigerians led all through, till the first two quarters, the margin of the lead was very narrow. But after that, the Indians seemed to have lost steam and looked tired while their rivals mounted pressure.

The first quarter saw a fast and furious play in which the Nigerians managed to lead by a solitary point (22-21). The lead got increased by four points (49-45) in the second quarter.

The Indians committed many unforced errors and their shooting left much to be desired. They missed some easy points and their attempts to earn three pointers failed most of the time.

Riyazuddin, led from the front and it was his crafty play that kept the rivals at bay for the first two quarters.

The Nigerian attacked well and capitalised on their height. Ejike Ugboaja (24), N Mouneke (23) and Mohd Abdulrahman (21) were their star scorers, ably supported by Abubakar Usman (15) and Baba Juril (9).

Apart from Riazuddin, other main scorers for the losers were Trideep Ai (21) and Robinson (16).

India's performance was also praiseworthy because of the fact of their lowly 47th ranking in the world and their recent poor showings in the Asian Championship and Williams Jones Cup in Taiwan.

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