The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Basketball

  • Zenith Bank Women Basketball League: Benue Princess pip AHIP, Rocks to Final Eight

    Zenith Bank Women Basketball League: Benue Princess pip AHIP, Rocks to Final Eight

    • First Bank, Dolphins remain unbeaten

    The Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) yesterday confirmed that Benue Princess have qualified for the Zenith Bank Women Basketball League Final Eight expected to hold in Lagos, at a yet-to-be announced date.

    Reports in the media over the weekend stated that AHIP got the ticket, but the NBBF quickly debunked the claim and released the official standing after two phases of the league in Abuja and Ilorin.

    SportingLife gathered that the battle for qualification in Group A went down to goal difference after three teams were tied on 24 points from eight wins and eight losses.

    Benue Princess narrowly piped AHIP Queens of Kano and Plateau Rocks with a +11 points aggregate differential advantage over Plateau Peaks who had +8, and AHIP Queens with -19 to join Sunshine Angels of Akure, former four-time champions, First Deepwater, and seven-time and defending champions, First Bank Basketball Club as the top four in the group to seal qualification for the play-offs in Lagos.

    Group B was more straightforward with back-to-back league runners up Dolphins clearly leading the pack with a maximum 32 points from 16 games, going unbeaten including a record 127-33 drubbing of league debutant Zamfara Babes.

    Joining Dolphins in the play-offs from Group B is Nigeria Customs who lost only to Dolphins in both legs in Abuja and Ilorin, finishing with 30 points from 14 wins and two losses, while IGP Queens and Delta Force complete the top 4 in the group with 28 points and 26 points respectively.

    Meanwhile, some of the players that will vie for honours in the Zenith Bank Basketball League were in action at the FIBA Zone three 3×3 tour that ended in Lagos yesterday.

    They said that apart from battling for the $10, 000 cash prize, it will also keep them in shape for the Final Eight.

  • Basketball:My return is to help young players – Awojobi

    Basketball:My return is to help young players – Awojobi

    Former D’Tigers’ player, Tunji Awojobi has said his return to the domestic league will encourage the young players and grow the league.

    Awojobi recently reactivated his playing career with the club he started with in the Nigerian league, Islanders Basketball Club of Lagos and he is hoping his experience would help Islanders regain its lost glory.

    His return has been hailed by many  as a morale booster for younger players, while basketball stakeholders also praised the new management of the Islanders led by Oladamoye Oyesiku for bringing back the experienced campaigner.

    Awojobi was part of the Nigeria team that won the first medal (Bronze) for the country at the 1995 Afrobasket in Algiers, Algeria and played in the national up until 2007 in Angola.

    His return to the local scene has forced many young players to realise that they truly lack the basic skill to propel them to stardom once enjoyed by Awojobi.

    The former Hapoel Jerusalem forward has not been found wanting in all four games the Islanders Basketball Club has played so far including a 93-90 points loss to Kwara Falcons Basketball Club of Ilorin where the 42-year-old forward scored a game high 34 points.

    Awojobi was on the floor for 30 minutes 13 seconds in week 4 of the DStv Premier Basketball League where he helped his side to a 69-56 points win over the Police Baton Basketball Club to stay second on the log of the Atlantic Conference with seven points from three wins and a loss. The former Nigeria international forward recorded 15 points, seven rebounds, two assists and two steals.

    He described his second stint in the Nigerian league as a way of encouraging the younger players and helping the league grow.

  • Bullet partners Oguche Basketball foundation

    Bullet Energy Drink, an international acclaimed sport friendly brand, has officially entered into partnership with the Samuel Oguche Basketball Foundation to organise this year’s Samuel Oguche Annual Basketball Youth Camp which is scheduled for May 18 to 22 in Abuja.

    The partnership, as described by MD of Sun Mark Gulf, parent company of Bullet Sports and Energy Drink,  Sunny Ahuja is to encourage them to display their potentials through basketball with the platform created by the sports friendly brand, Bullet.

    It would be recalled that Bullet Energy Drink has been a worthy partner in sports development in Nigeria and beyond. It instituted and has been rewarding the nation’s athletes for their excellence in sporting activities including boxing, football and other activities are planned soon.

    Ex-international and respected basketball administrator, Skambo Morrison has praised Bullet Energy Drink for its unrelenting commitment to the development of sports in Nigeria and West Africa.

    A highly elated Morrison described Bullet Energy Drink as the backbone of the success of the Nigerian youth, adding that the company, through this sponsorship, has started a process of transforming the lives of Nigerian youth.

  • Lagos out as Milo Basketball Championship reaches semifinal

    Lagos out as Milo Basketball Championship reaches semifinal

    The host – Lagos State has been booted out of the ongoing 17th Milo Secondary School Basketball Championship after the team failed to win any match with the stage set for the semi-final matches of the boys’ event.

    Despite the huge support the Lagos team got from the fans at the Indoor Hall of the National Stadium, the team drawn in group A alongside Ebonyi and Adamawa fell to the visitors in the games.

    In the first group clash against Ebonyi, the Lagos side failed to capitalise on home advantage as they succumbed to the visitor in the extra time to concede the defeat to Ebonyi at 38-40.

    Despite the narrow loss to Ebonyi, many have thought the team would bounce back against Adamawa, but they were shadow of themselves as they were thrashed 25-33 by the Northern team.

    Already sure of playing in the semi-final round, Adamawa’s captain, Dickson Ndata said he looks forward to guiding the team to victory against Ebonyi State in order to emerge as top team in Group A.

    “Winning this match is crucial because it decides whether or not we get to the semifinals. Ebonyi players are good too but I believe with team work, we can win the game. Also, I can say that from the attitude of my teammates, they are set to win so that we don’t end up like our female team,” Ndata said.

    A disappointed Patience Payesa of Adamawa female team described their loss to Ondo as very unfortunate after they were beaten 15-37 by the Sunshine girls.

    An optimist Payesa is not ready to give up as she believes they can still finish among the top teams of the competition.

    Meanwhile, Okhidemeh Leonard the captain of the ill-fated Edo side who lost in their first match said their match is a must win in order to get a chance to have a tie with other teams in the group and proceed to the semifinals.

    “Since we lost our first match, we need a win in our match against Team Delta today so that we can get a tie with other teams in our group. When that happens, points will be used to decide the winners and qualifiers for the semifinals,” Okhidemeh said.

  • Celebrities clash at Olumide Oyedeji Basketball Camp

    Celebrities clash at Olumide Oyedeji Basketball Camp

    Notable Nigerian entertainment superstars are set for a showdown as they will lock horns to demonstrate their basketball skills at the 15th Annual Olumide Oyedeji Basketball Camp scheduled for the last week of August and the first week of September  in Nigeria.

    The Celebrity All Stars Game, according to Olumide Oyedeji, founder of the Olumide Oyedeji Youth Foundation, organisers of the annual summer camp, is one of the major highlights of this year’s edition of the event which has held in many cities across the world since 2000.

    He said: “High profile individuals in the entertainment industry including Kunle Afolayan, famous actor and director; Nigeria’s dance queen, Kaffy; Mike Ezuruonye and Sound Sultan among others are expected to slug it out on the basketball court and also interact with the participants at this year’s edition of the

    Olumide Oyedeji Camp.”

    Other activities, according to Oyedeji, which would make the 2014 edition enthralling include exposure to the rudiments of basketball and basketball drilling to be handled by experienced coaches with world class training facilities; motivational speeches by successful individuals and sports icons from within and outside Nigeria as well as career talk and mentoring on having successful sporting and non-sporting careers.

    He said the camp would be open to kids and youths within age 5 and 18 years.

    The Annual Olumide Oyedeji Basketball Camp is one of the foundation’s initiatives used in empowering and helping the youths create a brighter future. It is aimed at teaching personal excellence in basketball and life. It encourages belief in personal responsibilities. It instills the habit of hard work and also stimulates youths’ interest in actively taking up sports, particularly basketball for recreation and profession instead of crime.

    It has recorded over 30,000 participants since its commencement 15 years ago. It has also produced young talented Nigerian players including over 200 players in colleges in the United States; over 300 players in High Schools in the United States, over 45 professional basketball players within and outside the United States as well as over 65 players who have played for the Nigerian national basketball teams in both junior and senior categories.

  • D’Tigers Captain, Oyedeji, Donates Basketball Court to Loyola College

    D’Tigers Captain, Oyedeji, Donates Basketball Court to Loyola College

    As part of his continued  effort to keep giving back to the society and as well stay connected to his roots, the captain of Nigeria’s senior basketball team, D’Tigers, Olumide Oyedeji, has built a standard basketball court for Loyola College, Ibadan, his alma mater. The basketball court will be commissioned on Saturday, August 2.

    According to Oyedeji, donating the basketball court was his contribution to the concerted effort to uphold the legacy of the school that prepared him for the future. Loyola College, he maintained, laid in him the foundation upon which he built his career in basketball. It became pertinent therefore to give back to the school.

    “I started playing basketball in Loyola College. The school, as a matter of fact, laid the solid foundation for my basketball career. It gave me hope and prepared me to become who I am today. The basketball court is my own way of giving back to the school and being part of the effort to sustain its legacy,” Oyedeji explained.

    Dignitaries to grace the event which is part of week-long activities to mark the 60th anniversary of the school include the Oyo State Commissioner for Youth and Sports, Hon. Umar Farouk Alao and Oyo State Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Hon. Gbade Lana, among others.

    Oyedeji, who is the most decorated Nigerian basketball player, further said his penchant to give back to the system informed the establishment of the Olumide Oyedeji Youth Foundation which exists primarily to help underprivileged, troubled and at risk youths create a brighter future, using sports as a platform.

    The Annual Olumide Oyedeji Basketball Camp is one of the foundation’s initiatives used in achieving these. The 15th edition of the basketball camp, which has empowered many youths and produced many young talented players, is scheduled for middle to the end of August this year in three cities in Nigeria – Lagos, Asaba and Calabar.

  • DStv Premier Basketball League: Kano Pillars retain title

    DStv Premier Basketball League: Kano Pillars retain title

    • Mark Mentors cry foul • Usman wins MVP 

     

    KanoPillars exhibited the true hallmark of a champion when they edged out Mark Mentors 89-88 to retain the NBBF organised DStv Premier Basketball League at the Indoor Sports Hall of the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos at the weekend.

    The victory makes the coach Sani Ahmed tutored Pillars the first team in the history of the competition with four titles out of the six-season-old league

    The thrilling final, which kept fans at the edge of their seats as the Abuja-based Mentors looked set to do the impossible leading by four points (88-84) with nine seconds left. But the coach Peter Ahmedu side allowed the euphoria of winning a first title become its greatest undoing, thus allowing Pillars energetic point guard Adeolu Olaiya to go on a fast-break for two points.

    A hasty ball-inbound finally cost Mentors the game as Olaiya’s steal  set-up Pillars hit-man Abubakar Usman who made a three-point with three seconds remaining.

    Efforts by Mentors to draw a foul or hit two-point did not yield result as the buzzer went off to signal the end of the game which Pillars won 89-88  (20-25, 21-19, 20-18 and 28-26).

    Mark Mentors coach, Peter Ahmedu, however, believes his team was robbed of victory. He revealed that an official protest will be filed to the relevant authority.

    “Definitely I’m going to make an official complaint. I want the federation to go back and play that tape and  to tell us why the referee stopped the game when it was four seconds left. Then we’ll accept our defeat”, a visible angry Ahmedu said.

    Kano Pillars went home with N1million  and Mark Mentors got N750,000 while both teams will now represent Nigeria at the upcoming Continental games.

    Dodan Warriors won N500,000 after claiming the third spot with a over-time 81-71 points (08-16, 14-22, 18-15, 27-14 and 04-14) victory over Gombe Bulls.  Nigerian International Abubakar Usman of Kano Pillars won his second consecutive Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the Final 8 award. Nda’ Abu as he is popularly called also won the Highest Scorer award having ended the tournament as the leading scorer with 138 points in five matches. While Mark Mentors forward Abdul Yahaya went home with the Highest Rebounder award.

  • DSTV PREMIER BASKETBALL PLAYOFF: Kano Pillars battle Mark Mentors in today’s final

    Kano Pillars hope to retain their NBBF/DSTV Premier Basketball  League crown today when they face Mark Mentors in the playoff’s final billed to hold at the Indoor Sports Hall of the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos.

    2014 All-Star Game Most Valuable Player (MVP), Abubakar Usman scored 14 points with four assists to lead Pillars to a 76-45 points victory over Gombe Bulls in the first semifinal match yesterday.

    The one sided encounter saw the coach Sani Ahmed tutored Pillars dominate the four quarters 16-13, 35-33, 53-39 and 76-45.

    In the second semi-final, Mark Mentors defeated Dodan Warriors 72-63 to set up all Savannah Conference final with the defending champion Kano Pillars.

    In a chat with SportingLife, President of Nigeria Basketball Federation, NBBF, Tijani Umar, said it is difficult to predict who will eventually be the champion.

    “The beauty of this game is that you cannot predict who will be the winner of the championship. It’s a very keen competition and that is good for the game. Kano Pillars and Mark Mentors have proved their quality and I expect to see an explosive and entertaining game on Saturday. I want to urge basketball fans to come to the stadium and see the best of Nigerian basketball.”

    This season, the semi final pairing saw three teams (Kano Pillars, Mark Mentors and Gombe Bulls) qualify from the Savanah Conference while Atlantic Conference was represented by Dodan Warriors. Umar believes the achievement has to do with the investment in the game of basketball in the area.

    “That means the other conference is not sleeping. They are on top of their game, they are playing well and managing their teams well. It’s a big surprise that three of them are in the semi-final but it shows you that there is serious commitment; there is investment from that side of the country,” he noted.

  • 2014 DSTV Basketball Super 8: Robbers attack Gombe Bulls

    PLAYERS and officials of Gombe Bulls had a bitter experience Wednesday morning following their attack by dare devil robbers on their way to Lagos  for the 2014 DSTV Basketball Super 8.

    The ugly incident, according to the team, took place in Okenne, Kogi State.

    Coach of the side, Abdulrahman Mohammed said : “It was rather an unfortunate incident, though I was not involved but I’m glad that nobody was hurt.

    “After leaving Gombe State for Lagos on Tuesday, the team had to pass the night in Okenne after traveling long hours by road.

    “So as they bid to continue the journey for Lagos on Wednesday morning,  they fell into the waiting hands of the robbers.

    “The robbers made away with the players and some of our officials valuables and cash .”

    When asked if the incident would affect his players’ performance in the play-off which dunked off on Wednesday to end 19th July, the former D’Tigers assistant coach said: “That I can’t really say as my job will now be to psyche them up, as it’s never too easy for one to overcome such experience.”

    Recall Gombe Bulls booked a place in the Super 8 after they finished 3rd on the Log of Savannah conference.

  • Nigeria can be number 1 in world basketball

    Nigeria can be number 1 in world basketball

    Former National male basketball coach, D’ Tigers, Ayo Bakare, has revealed that Nigeria has what it takes to dominate the rest of the world in basketball. The veteran coach was ‘Inside the centre Circle’ on Brila FM where he made the revelation.

    “Basketball is going to move way ahead of football and we are going to become like the USA in the sport as time goes on and that is because we have the materials and basketball is the only sport where Nigeria can dominate at world level.”

    “In basketball, we’re ranked 17th, 18th in the world, usually always in the top 20 consistently and we have beaten World no. 4, 5, 7. In fact, a lot of the teams in the top 10 have all been beaten by Nigeria in the last 12 months and that shows the level that we can rise to in the sport.”

    Bakare said Nigeria is nowhere near football, not even in the next 25 years.

    Nigeria was unfortunate in its bid to secure a wild-card qualification for the FIBA Basketball World Cup in Spain, a situation Bakare described as disappointing.

    “Well, I am very disappointed like every true and patriotic Nigerian and I feel like that because I can count up to 10 qualified countries for SPAIN 2014 that I know we will beat hands-down and our Olympic performance is a testament to that fact.”

    “With the right players and preparation, we have shown that we can beat anybody in the world and it’s more disappointing that we did not get a chance to prove that this time Nigeria may have missed out on the World Cup in Spain but the Basketball community hopes D’ Tigers will participate at the iconic 11th edition of the All Africa Games to be hosted by Brazzaville, Republic of Congo to mark the 50th anniversary of the African Olympics. The 2015 FIBA Afro basket championship and the 2016 Rio Olympic Games are the two other competitions that the Nigerian basketball community is eagerly anticipating.