By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
Nigeria beat World Cup host China 86 – 73 in the last classification round Group M game to clinch a spot in the 2020 Olympic Games as the top African team.
The Nigerian side finished the tournament with a 3-2 record while China is 2-3. The latter will play in the Olympic Qualifiers, unless they receive one of the four available wild cards.
Josh Okogie scored 18 points and grabbed five rebounds to push Nigeria to the win over China. Ekpe Udoh added 13 points and Nnamdi Vincent 12.
China needed a lot more than Yi Jianlian’s 27 points and Shuo Fang’s 19 points (plus five boards) to counter the Nigeria offense, particularly in the second half. Nigeria dropped 51 points after the break to leave its opponents behind in the score and reach the victory that secured them the Olympic berth.