Team Nigeria men's basketball coach Ayo Bakare and his players were relieved yesterday after seeing off a spirited fightback from Tunisia in their first Group A match.

Team Nigeria men's basketball coach Ayo Bakare and his players were relieved yesterday after seeing off a spirited fightback from Tunisia in their first Group A match.

D'Tigers won 60-56 as the African champions put up a spirited comeback in the third and fought quarters.

“First, I must thank God for the grace of being here and winning our first match,” Bakare said moments after the match.“We expected a strong Tunisia side and that happened. It's not easy to be 16 points down and still come up the way they did. It was a good game, a good outing for two African teams. We have showcased Africa's basketball and proved that we both deserve to be here.”

The Nigerians led 31-15 after the second quarter and looked to be cruising to victory in their first ever Olympic match, but the Tunisians won the third quarter 16-14 and the fourth 25-15 to cut the deficit to just four points.

Ike Diogu, one of D'Tigers top players who had 14 points and 10 rebounds, praised the Tunisians for putting up a good fight.

He said: “We are glad that we won. We came here to prove that we are the best in Africa and I'm happy we did that. But credit must go to Tunisia. They are a very good team.

“In the first half we got on to a 16-point lead and that was good. But we got sluggish and they closed in on us. They were excellent in defence and we were doing a little bit one on one. We are happy that we have made a lot of people happy at home. This is history. It is our first time in the Olympics and we won our first match. It feels good. This is history and I'm happy to be part of it.”

Ade Danguduro, who contributed six points, added: “It was great that we won. We now have to stay focused. At a time we thought we were coasting to victory.

That affected our mentality and Tunisia closed up. It happens in basketball and that's why I said we really need to be focused in our subsequent matches.”