NAN-S-2
Basketball
Lagos, Aug. 17, 2017 (NAN) Kwese Premier Basketball League defending champions, Kano Pillars, has maintained its winning streak in the ongoing Savannah Conference Final Six in Kaduna.
Pillars defeated Kada Stars of Kaduna with 91-58 points, to consolidate the team’s position, retain the conference title and qualify for the Final 8 tournament scheduled for Kano.
It was an easy win for Pillars against Kada Stars, who got promoted to the Conference Six following the inability of Mark Mentor and Defenders of Abuja to participate in the championship.
Pillars won the opening half of the encounter 29-4 and secured 50 points against Kada’s 23 in the second quarter.
They took the third quarter with 65-41 points before ending the game with a 33 points gap in a 91-58 finish against the Kaduna based team.
Pillar’s Azouma Dike who led his team’s scoring chart scored 21 points to spearhead Kano Pillars’ onslaught against Kada Stars.
Former Most Valuable Player in the league, Abdul Yahaya contributed 20 points, while Mathew Onmonya scored 10 points to be among the top scorers.
Speaking to newsmen after the match Dike described the match as important and a must win for his side.
“It was a very important win for us, since it is Pillars’ tradition not to take any game lightly.
“It was a good game. The game against Bulls was like the finals. But in Pillars’ tradition every game is important and we take every game as it comes.
“We don’t look down on any team so we take all our games seriously,” the former Mark Mentors player said.
Meanwhile, hostilities at the Atlantic Conference of the championship are getting livelier in Ilorin, Kwara State.
The six invited teams; Kwara Falcons, Rivers Hoopers, Hoops and Read, Nigeria Customs, Oluyole Warriors and Police Batons are currently jostling for supremacy.
In some of the matches played, Hoopers defeated Customs 70- 56, while Hoops and Read thrashed Oluyole Warriors 70-47.
NAN Reports that the two top teams from the Atlantic and Savanah conferences will play in the final eight to determine the overall champion for the season. (NAN)
DEB/ERO/MZA
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Edited by Emmanuel Okara/Maharazu Ahmed