2014 Nigeria DStv Premier Basketball League Week 13 Results
DSTV Week 13 Results:
Frank Okafor in jersey No 8 of Police Baton going for a lay-up against Dodan Warriors player during the 2014 Nigeria DStv Premier Atlantic Conference
Islanders 67-61 Union Bank
Oluyole 95-73 Customs
Royal Hoopers 100-67 Kwara Falcons
Dodan Warriors 83-64 Police Baton
Savannah Conference
Plateau Peaks 73-49 Immigration
Mark Mentors 89-63 Bauchi Nets
Niger Potters 42-37 Gombe Bulls
Kada Stars 53-92 Kano Pillars
With only just one more round of games to go in the Regular Season the Playoff places are now complete, while it might rosy for the top four teams four teams in both the Savannah and Atlantic Conferences, what left now is the relegation battle between teams that are trying to beat the drop.
While that will come to fore on the last day of the league, here is the List of teams that have made it to the Play-offs
UNION BANK, ISLANDERS, DODAN WARRIORS OLUYOLE WARRIORS, have all made it from the Atlantic Conference while for the Savannah Conference we’ve got KANO PILLARS, MARK MENTORS, GOMBE BULLS AND PLATEAU PEAKS.
William Malu in jersey No 9 of Police Baton going for a dunk against Dodan Warriors player during the 2014 Nigeria DStv Premier Basketball League
Super Falcons eased their way to the final of the African Women Championship (AWC) with a resounding 8-0 crushing of Rwanda in Kaduna to qualify on a 12-1 aggregate.
With a 4-1 advantage from the first leg, Falcons made a feast of the She-Amavubi with Oparanozie Desire scoring a hat trick. It was 5-0 at interval with Blessing Edoho, Asisat Oshoala and Esther Sunday registering their names on the score sheet.
Wing back Blessing Edoho opened the flood gate of goals as early as the 11th minute with Asisat Oshoala making it two in the 18th minute before Oparanozie took over the show with two goals in the 20th and 30th minutes.
Esther Sunday who had tormented the visitors all day from the left flank made it five in the 40th minute with a beautiful goal off a through pass from skipper Evelyn Nwabuoku.
The second half was just seven minutes old when Oparanozie bagged her hat trick scoring goal number six. Oshoala would score the best goal of the day when she dribbled almost the whole defence to make it seven.
Nku cecilia completed the routing by scoring goal number eight. The visitors attempt to score a consolation goal was checked by the Falcons defence ably marshalled by Josephine Chukwunonye.
With this victory the eight times African champions have qualified for the AWC billed for Namibia in October.
A delighted coach Edwin Okon said “I am happy we won with this wide margin but we are going back to prepare for the serious task ahead
“The programme for the AWC proper will soon be reeled out and by the grace of God the trophy is what we are gunning for in Namibia” he stated.
Hatrick heroine Desire Oparanozie who earlier stated before the match that she will score three goals said it was “prophecy fulfilled” adding that Nigerians should expect more goals at the AWC.
Heavyweight (91kg) Erislandy Savon (R) Cuba Domadores vs Abdulkadir Abdullayev (L) Azerbaijan Baku
The first leg of the World Series of Boxing (WSB) Season IV Finals between Azerbaijan Baku Fires and Cuba Domadores took place in Baku, with the Cubans narrowly winning the night 3-2.
Going into the second leg both teams would have been confident of their chances, and indeed both performed incredibly well under much pressure.
At the end of the night however, it was the Cuba Domadores, in their debut season who won the WSB Season IV title, by the narrowest of margins.
The contest went down to the wire, with The Baku Fires winning three of the first five fights.
This meant that the scores were tied 5-5 on aggregate, with a Sudden Death bout between Azerbaijan’s Yauheni Ramashkevich and Cuba’s Arisnoydis Despaigne needed to find an overall winner.
It was the Cuban who prevailed, despite a great effort from Ramashkevich, and his victory saw his team crowned champions.
The Flyweights (52kgs), Bantamweight (56kg), Lightweights (60kg), Welterweights (69kg), Light-Heavyweights (81kg) and Super-Heavyweights (91kg+) contested this match.
The first fight of the night was at Flyweight (52 kg) between Azerbaijan’s Elvin Mamishzada and Cuba’s Gerardo Cervantes.
There was a consistent tempo to the fight, and Mamishzada dominated from the outset, with one thudding right hand stunning Cervantes i round one, which made the Cuban have to take a standing count.
The second round was another strong one from the Azeri athlete, and though Cervantes ended the second round stronger, he still lost the round.
Mamishzada’s stamina looked to be waning in round three, but he found a second wind in rounds four and five.
It was the way he controlled the fight from the outset which impressed the judges, and though Cervantes never gave up, Elvin Mamishzada made it 1-0 on the night for The Baku Fires, and 3-3 on aggregate with a large points win over his Cuban opponent.
Bout of the match
The second fight of the night was at Welterweight, as WSB veteran Mahamed Nurudzinau faced the undefeated gold medal specialist Roniel Iglesias Sotolongo.
Iglesias came into the fight with a 4-0 WSB record, but he was made to work for every minute of his clash with the savvy Nurudzinau, who pushed his Cuban opponent to the brink in every round.
The fight was one you couldn’t take your eye off, as both men fought valiantly to achieve victory.
Despite his advancing years, Nurudzinau’s workrate was incredible, and he used all manner of veteran tricks to try and thwart Iglesias.
Cuba’s Iglesias just about managed to distance himself from Nurudzinau enough to impress the judges, and he fought in a very un-Cuban way, setting himself in the middle of the ring, and fighting fire with fire with the man from Baku.
He eventually won a very entertaining contest by points on all three judges scorecards, 49-46 x2, and 48-47.
Fires
Boxer of the match
Cuban Light-Heavyweight Julio Cesar De La Cruz had the pressure of his entire nation on his shoulders going into his fight against The Baku Fires representative Mikhail Dauhaliavets.
De La Cruz needed to win to keep Cuba in the contest, and a loss would have given the title to Azerbaijan.
The Cuban put on a boxing clinic against his brave opponent, using incredible footwork and head movement, teamed with sharp shots and dynamic reflexes.
He won every minute of every round against Dauhaliavets, who attacked with constant pressure, but could not find a way through a genuine world class opponent.
The turning point
Coming into the third fight of the evening, Azerbaijan were drawing 1-1, but knew that they had a great chance of victory in the fourth fight of the evening, but they were aware that the last fight of the night involved Cuba’s Julio Cesar De La Cruz, who was expected to win his contest.
Therefore they needed a performance from their star boxer, Albert Selimov, a legend in boxing for beating Ukraine’s superstar Vasyl Lomachenko in the final of the 2007 AIBA World Boxing Championships.
His opponent was Cuba’s Lazaro Alvarez, a two-time World Champion who was also 6-0 in WSB going into the contest.
The fight turned out to be one that could have gone either way, with Selimov constantly peppering Alvarez with sharp punches, while his Cuban opponent frequently flustered his opponent with furious flurries.
In the end, two judges scored the fight for Selimov, while one favoured Alvarez.
The result meant that Azerbaijan went into a 2-1 lead in the evening, and the win ultimately ensured that a Sudden Death bout would be needed.
Wrap up
The fourth bout of the evening was a Super-Heavyweight battle between Azerbaijan’s number one ranked Arslanbek Makhmudov in action against Cuba’s José Angel Larduet.
Makhmudov was undefeated in WSB prior to the bout, mostly due to his special power, and he controlled the majority of his contest against the Cuban to extend his record to 5-0 for the season.
Larduet was several inches smaller than his opponent, and couldn’t find his range until the third round, by which time Makhmudov had already built up an impressive points lead.
Makhmudov’s win put The Baku Fires into a 3-1 lead on the night.
The WSB Champion was decided by a Welterweight tiebreaker between Azerbaijan’s Yauheni Ramashkevich and Cuba’s Arisnoydis Despaigne.
Despaigne was ranked two at Welterweight, and was 3-0 going into the bout, while Ramashkevich had a more modest 2-2 record.
Both boxers gave it their all, but ultimately the class of Despaigne proved too much for the spirited Ramashkevich, and he won the fight on all three scorecards to win the title for Cuba.
newfanzone 