CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -- Ike Diogu scored 25 points as Nigeria earned the final men's basketball spot at the London Olympics with an 88-73 victory over the Dominican Republic on Sunday.
The Nigerians surprised their rivals with fast breaks and solid defense. Diogu, a forward who plays for Puerto Rico's Capitanes de Arecibo team, received the tournament's Most Valuable Player award.
"I'm very happy. We did what had to be done," Diogu said. "We knew we were going to face teams that are heavyweights, and we did what we needed to do - win."
The Dominicans struggled to stop Nigeria's powerful offense, but forward Yack Martinez help prevent a lopsided victory, scoring 16 points and grabbing several rebounds.
Russia and Lithuania also qualified with semifinals victories Saturday.
In London, Lithuania and Nigeria will join the United States, Tunisia, France and Argentina in Group A. Russia, China, Britain, Brazil, Australia and Spain are in Group B.
