Nigeria snatch final London basketball berth

Apart from the west African nation,who stunned former European champions Greece to reach the last four,Russia and Lithuania have also booked their London berths from this qualifier on Saturday.

The trio will join United States,Argentina,Spain,France,Tunisia,Brazil,Australia and China who had qualified earlier alongside hosts Great Britain.

Nigeria forward Ike Diogu capped an outstanding individual tournament with 25 points and 10 rebounds,confining his Dominican counterpart Al Horford of NBA8217;s Atlanta Hawks to just 12 points and shooting only five of 11 from the field.

With the Dominicans cutting the deficit to just two points at the end of the third quarter,Diogu nailed 10 successive points in the closing stages to send his team mates and a small band of Nigerian supporters into raptures.

If you are a big-time player you have to relish those moments and that8217;s what I did,having decided to carry my team at crunch time,Diogu told the world basketball governing body8217;s FIBA television in a courtside interview.

Forward Derrick Obasohan added: We had the toughest schedule in the tournament but nothing was going to stop us tonight because we were on a mission