Caleb Agada set a new three-point shooting record in the FIBA Basketball World Cup African Qualifiers on Sunday, draining eight triples to lead Nigeria's D'Tigers to a 100-84 victory over Cape Verde. Coming off the bench at the Salle Multidisciplinaire de Radès, Agada shot 9-of-12 from the field, including 8-of-11 from beyond the arc, finishing with a career-high 26 points, six assists and four rebounds in just under 24 minutes.
His eight made threes broke the previous World Cup African Qualifiers record of seven, set by Rwanda's Kenneth Gasana in a 79-77 loss to the Central African Republic in Abidjan in February 2019. Guinea's Shannon Evans, Cameroon's Fabien Ateba and Côte d'Ivoire's Sire Dieng have each also hit seven in a qualifying game.
Nigeria never trailed, racing to a 23-9 first-quarter lead and taking a 52-35 advantage into halftime before pulling away to 76-54 after three quarters. Cape Verde rallied in the fourth but could not close the gap.
Josh Okogie posted 15 points, eight rebounds, 10 assists and four steals, while captain Ike Nwamu added 14 points and Efe Abogidi chipped in 11. The win lifted Nigeria to a 5-4 record in the qualifying campaign with three games remaining, after back-to-back defeats to Cameroon and South Sudan earlier in the window.
Head coach David Fizdale praised the team's improved shooting after a slow start to the round. "I was really happy finally we made threes because we just couldn't make shots the first two games," Fizdale said.
