Kenya Morans lost their second consecutive match after falling to Nigeria 71-55 in the ongoing FIBA Africa 2021 Championship Group C match in Kigali, Rwanda on Friday
The Kenyans had already lost 88-70 to Ivory Coast in their opening match on Wednesday.
They now face Mali in their last preliminary game on Sunday to see if they have a chance to progress in the tournament.
"We started slow, came back into the game midway in the third, and closed within 5 points. However, our shots couldn't drop and so we couldn't close the gap," said assistant coach Sadat Gaya.
The D'Tigers, who beat Mali 81-73 in their first game by scoring 54 points from three-pointers, got off to a good start, moving up 15-3 before settling for a 20-8 first-quarter advantage.
Kenya, led by the debutant Albert Odera, battled the West Africans in the second stanza, keeping them at bay while making crucial points of their own.
Kenya closed in 23-18 but still drowned 34-26 at the break. Midway through the third quarter, Morans still put up a fight despite being down 35-40. Nigeria then built a 12-point cushion but two free shots by Joseph Situma had the scores 49-39 as the stanza ended.
Nigeria opened the scoring in the deciding quarter with a three-pointer and with 5minutes played, they had rolled away a 20-point edge at 68-48 on an easy layup.
With the game already lost, the lack of killer punch again left everyone struggling to hit the target. Only Odera hit double-figure tallying 23 points.
Nigeria were led by Uzodina Utumi with 17 and Jeremiah Mordi who hit 10 off the bench. They scored 15 of their 45 three points attempts.
