The Savannah Conference won their third straight DStv Premier Basketball league All Star game at the weekend inside the indoor hall of the National Stadium, Abuja in a tightly contested match to beat the Atlantic Conference 81 -77 points. In an ebullient display of skills, the Savannah Conference tutored by Sani Ahmed led 31-22 after […]
via Savannah Conference Wins Third Consecutive DStv All Star Game In Abuja — newfanzoneblog
Four Nigerian club-sides will this weekend storm Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso for the 2014 Africa Champions Cup Zone-3 qualifiers billed for October 20 through 29.
The four clubs two men and two women teams are seeking qualification for the four tickets available for the final round of the continent biggest club championship slated for November and December in Tunisia.
Campaigning alongside six other men teams from Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Benin Nigeria league champion Kano Pillars and runner-up Mark Mentors basketball clubs will compete for the two available slot to the final round.
While First Bank basketball club and Dolphins basketball club will be up against opposition from teams from Burkina Faso and Niger Republic as only four women clubs enter for the zone qualifiers which will produce two teams for the final round.
The FIBA Africa Zone-3 qualifiers is not new to Kano Pillars Mark Mentors basketball club of Abuja on the other hand will be making it debut in the continental qualifier but with rich roster.
First Bank basketball club head coach, Adewumi Aderemi hinted that his wards are ready for any opposition as they seek to qualify for the finals billed for Tunisia next month.
“We know what is expected from us and we are very focus in achieving that goal, so nothing short of making it to Tunisia will be accepted from the players.
“We have the same set of players that won the Nigeria league title with us but might look to strengthen the roster for the final round.
First Bank basketball club will bank on experience of reigning most valuable player (MVP) in the Nigerian league Chioma Udeaja, team captain Oluchi Nzekwe and other younger players to help with the qualification.
Chairman Mark Mentors basketball club Igoche Mark has enjoined the technical crew and players to be a good ambassador of not just the club but of Nigeria, urging them to remember that they are going to represent the entire country at the Burkina Faso qualifier.
He, however, challenge them to ensure the qualification of the team for the final round notwithstanding the fact that they are debutant.
Meanwhile the Secretariat of the continental body FIBA Africa has release the names of the officials for the Zone-3 qualifiers this is made up of two match commissioners, five accompanying referees and four neutral referees.
The two match commissioners are Iddrisu Ayambire from Ghana and Mamadou Belem from Burkina Faso, the five accompanying referees includes three Nigerians – Babatunde Popoola, Olayinka Famogbiyele and Kingsley Ojeaburu; Abdoulaye Kamagate from Cote d’Ivoire and Mouhamadou Kadir from Niger Republic, while the neutral referees are Sami Belgharek (Tunisia), Tarek Ben Ltaifa (Tunisia), Youssouf Maiga (Mali) and Nourou Djeri (Togo).
The competition will be officiated according to FIBA rule of two and three-man officiating.
With the conclusion of the first phase of the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) organized Zenith Bank Women Basketball League last weekend in Abuja four-peat champion First Deepwater basketball club and former champion First Bank basketball club remain the only clubs to maintain a hundred percent record in their respective groups.
Sixteen began the race for a comfortable finish ahead the second phase billed for Ilorin, Kwara State from May 1 through May 11 but at the end of the energy sapping round-robin league the reigning champion First Deepwater basketball club proved to be real champion though not without some sort of competition from it group-A opponents especially the game against the IGP Queens basketball club which ended 64-45 points with the Police team providing some scary moment in the first two quarters.
Coach Lateef Erinfolami and his girls clearly define their mission, to keep a clean slate going into the next phase which they have successfully done leaving other teams to fight for the remaining three slots going into the final phase schedule for Lagos later in the year.
In group-B it was First Bank basketball club who is clearly ahead of other teams in the group as it maintained an unbeaten run as the first phase to a logical conclusion in Abuja.
Though not without some patch moment against Nigeria Customs basketball on Match Day-4 when the border girls gave the former Nigeria league champion something to address, First Bank went to win the game by 42-31 points its head coach Adewumi Aderemi did confess that the game against Customs was a wake-up call that no team is a push-over in the Zenith Bank league.
As if the fight Customs gave the former ten-time champion of the Nigeria women league was not enough last season runner-up Dolphins basketball club was out to prove a point that her last season semi-final win over the Elephant Girls was not a fluke as the Wale Aboderin girls match the bankers strength for strength in a game described by pundits as the best game of the first phase.
Coach Aderemi and his wards prevailed at the buzzer by 48-41 points but were quick to admit that the Zenith Bank league has indeed come of age and standard.
All sixteen teams in the league will move over to Ilorin for the next phase in May with the top-four teams from each group making it to the last leg of the league in Lagos.
Coach Abraham Ogaba of the IGP Queens basketball club has vowed that the Police team will make the final cut to the phase playoff.
Coach Ogaba applauded the NBBF and Zenith Bank for providing a platform for Nigerian women players to continue to exhibit their talents.
The soft-spoken Police coach, however, calls for total support for the Tijjani Umar-led NBBF in delivering the gains of the league to Nigeria basketball community.
Segun Ikuesan
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