NAN-S-5
Basketball (Wrap Up)
By Babatunde Ogunrinde
Lagos, Nov. 21, 2017 (NAN) The Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) on Tuesday expressed satisfaction over the hosting of the just concluded FIBA Africa Zone 3 Club Championship Qualifiers which crowned Kano Pillars as the champion.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Pillars defeated other five contenders in a round-robin format to pick one of the two tickets ahead of the second placed Gombe Bulls.
The competition held from Nov. 11 to Nov. 18 at the National Stadium, Lagos, had ASPAC of Republic of Benin, Customs of Ghana and Mark Mentors of Abuja also competed for honours.
The Civil Defenders of Abuja also participated, playing three games, but left abruptly to the disgust of their fans and the Local Organising Committee.
Musa Kida, the President of NBBF, told NAN that the board was elated to host the championship, barely four months after its inauguration.
“We are happy to host the competition.
“It is a welcome development which will boost the image of the country and the board in a manner that seeks to rekindle the passion for the game.
“We understand that for long such a competition has yet to hold; so we took it upon ourselves to portray the hidden passion for the promotion and restructuring of basketball in the region.
“We are happy for Kano Pillars who showed class over other contenders.
“We are also pleased with the level of competition; indeed all participating teams raised the game to another level,’’ Kida said.
He added that the next on the board’s agenda was the qualifying series where the senior national men’s team, D’Tigers, would soon start preparation, ahead of the World Cup in Spain.
“We have really set the ground running ever since we came on board and there is hardly one month that we have not been busy.
“This is our promise to basketball lovers and we intend to keep it that way; indeed the Afrobasket women championship victory, the 3×3 Africa Championship victory.
“The Afrobasket men’s second place winners, who could only train for one week prior to the event, was a testimony for the efforts in repositioning basketball for greater heights,’’ Kida said.
He, however, urged the two teams going to the African Club Championship (ACC) scheduled for Tunisia to give in their best.
Also, Ahmed Sanni, the Head Coach of Pillars, said that the team would need to work harder to win the forthcoming FIBA ACC.
Pillars defeated Customs of Ghana 66-46 on the final day and went home with the championship trophy having defeated other oppositions.
Sanni told NAN that the clubs’ feat at the championship was astonishing and set them up as the best club in the zone.
Meanwhile, the Pillars whose dominance could go back as far as 2014 when they last tasted a defeat in the competition, thanked the sport loving state government.
According to Sanni, the club has always been enjoying the unflinching support of the state government.
“When a crop of young athletes who are determined to excel in their chosen field such as basketball are motivated, there is that confidence that good result will follow suit.
“Our next target is to win the ACC in which we came third in the last edition.
“We also want to make our mark in this competition because that is where we can really say that we are the kings of Africa at the club level,’’ Sanni said.
In the same vein, Usman Abubakar, the team’s prolific and dependable forward player, told NAN that the team was well taken care of with proper remunerations and moral support.
“We have to step up, going with the support we have been enjoying from the state government. Kano is a sport loving state.
“When sports and issues relating to the youths are taking with utmost priorities, it is evident that there will be good results at the end,’’ the player said.
Abubakar, who is a long standing player of the club, said that he was not thinking about retirement.
“I am still strong and growing with wisdom for the game. My priority now is to win the ACC; then, I can think of retirement,’’ he said.
The Head Coach of Gombe Bulls, Abdulrahman Mohammed, told NAN that his team performed well to pick a ticket for the continental showpiece in Tunisia.
“Being their first time in this competition, it feels good to pick one of the two available tickets to play continental; we can go back home with our heads up high.
“However, I want to plead with the state government to support us so that we can take our basketball to the highest point which is the ACC,’’ Mohammed said.
Similarly, Lawal Brimah, the Head Coach of Customs of Ghana, thanked the Local Organising Committee for the competition, saying that the team was not well prepared for the tournament.
“We would have done better, but we were not fully prepared. Customs have a great reputation in this tournament in picking one of the available tickets.
“We have to go back to the drawing board and be better prepared next time; indeed it has been a wonderful tournament,’’ Brimah said.
NAN reports that Abdul Yahaya of Pillars won the competition’s Most Valuable Player Award for his overall brilliance, while his teammate Usman, went home with the best three point’s shooter. (NAN)
BAO/ENN/GOK
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Edited by Edwin Nwachukwu/Olagoke Olatoye