Tunisia were too good for Nigeria in the final of the FIBA AfroBasket as the North Africans beat the West Africans 77-65.
The tournament co-hosts Tunisia had a superb tournament as they went unbeaten all the way to their second African basketball title.
The final was a hard fought game for both teams with the Tunisians executing their plays at crucial times in front of a vociferous crowd in Tunis.
Nigeria were the better team in the opening quarter as they took it 14-8. Ike Diogu and Ikechukwu Nwamu both scored five points in the opening frame.
Diogu ended the game with a double-double 20 points and 10 rebounds; Nwamu finished with 10 rebounds.
Tunisia found their rhythm in the second quarter and outscored the Nigerians 17 points to 10 to go into half-time leading the game 25-24. The Tunisians were unstoppable after that as they stayed in front for the rest of the game.
In the third quarter they pulled ahead of D'Tigers and never looked back, building a 12-point lead as they ended the third quarter up 52-40. Mohamed Hadidane scored seven points in the third frame and Zied Chennoufi added eight points to the team total.
Hadidane scored 11 points and grabbed four rebounds in the contest while Chennoufi lead the way for his team as he finished with 19 points.
The fourth quarter was an evenly contested one with both teams scoring 25 points apiece. It wasn't enough for Nigeria to claw their way back and defend their title as Tunisia won the game comfortably in the end.
This was Tunisia's second AfroBasket title in their history and first since 2011.
Mourad El Mabrouk and Hadidane became two-time FIBA AfroBasket champions after this victory.
In the earlier third place playoff game Senegal triumphed over Morocco, taking the contest 73-62.
Mouhammad Faye scored 22 points and pulled down seven boards for Senegal and his compatriot and Minnesota Timberwolves star Gorgui Dieng had an 18-point, 10-rebound double-double. Abderrahim Najah top-scored for Morocco with 17 points.
Ike Diogu was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player, he was the tournament's leading scorer as he averaged 22 points per game. He headlined the All-Star Five Awards for the All-Tournament team. Diogu was joined on the team by countryman Ikenna Iroegbu (Nigeria), Mohamed Hadidane, Mourad El Mabrouk (both Tunisia) and Gorgui Dieng(Senegal).