DStv PL: Police brighten playoffs chances, beat Islanders 59-42

The Nigeria Police basketball team, The Police Baton basketball club at the weekend brighten its chances of making it to the final-8 playoffs slated for the Civic Centre, Port Harcourt, Rivers State with a 59-42 points victory over former champion of the Nigeria league, Lagos Islanders basketball club at the sports hall of the national stadium, Lagos.

The Coach Mark Balogun tutored Baton humbled Islanders in all departments of the game winning in all four-quarter by 13-08, 15-12, 18-10 and 13-12 with Baton combo-guard Kelvin Dandison leading the floor with 18 points and 3 rebounds.

Dandison teammates, Dapo Peters and Malik Tella added 10 points, 5 rebounds and 10 rebounds respectively to put paid to the ambition of the Islanders.

The victory shot Baton to the third position of the Atlantic conference standing with a game against second placed Union Bank basketball club on Friday in Lagos.

Other regular season games in both conferences of the DStv Premier League, in the Atlantic conference Ebun Comets basketball club and Dodan Warriors basketball club will lock horns on Wednesday in Lagos while run-away conference leader, Royal Hoopers bnasketball club will be at home to Delta Force basketball club at the Civic Centre in Port Harcourt, Rivers State while Dodan Warriors basketball club and Lagos Islanders basketball will round-off the conference regular season game on Saturday in Lagos.

in the Savannah conference two teams (Plateau Peaks and Niger Potters) whose final-8 playoffs qualifications depended on the last regular season pairings of the conference, Plateau Peaks will be at home in Kaduna to defending champion, Kano Pillars in a tough duel as the defending champion who are already through to the playoffs will be playing for pride while Niger Potters basketball club of Minna will welcome relegated AHIP Giants basketball club of Kano.

Though the odd to pick the Savannah conference fourth slot favours Potters who will be playing against relegated AHIP in Minna but must have to win convincingly if they want to be part of the Garden City playoffs party.



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FIBA Africa Zone-III Elimination: Nigeria succumb to Togo 58-59

second game of Day-2 of the qualifiers Nigeria were unlucky against a determined Togolaise side going down by 58-59 points with the Togolaise who are determine to book a place in the 2011 FIBA Africa Championship for Men dictating the pace for the better part of the highly explosive game which kept the fans on the edge of their seats througout the duration of the game.

Togo won the first quarter by 15-11 points with Nigeria rallying back in the second quarter with a 14-13 points win to go into the break with a three points deficits of 28-25 points in favour of Togo.

Not wanting to give up easily Nigeria took another shot at beating the Togolaise to their game with a 16-13 points win in the third quarter to even scores at 41 points apiece going into the last quarter with rising to the ocassion to pick the last quarter by 18-17 points to run away with a hard earned victory of 59-58 points which set the fans in wide jubilation as the win over Nigeria thus restore their hope of a place at the 2011 Afrobasket slated for Abidjan, Cote dIvoire.

Togo Abdouf-Fatarh Damatare led his teammates with 16 points, Jimmy Williams grabbed 11 rebounds and scored 9 points, Komi Kouigan contributed 10 points and 5 rebounds while Mauetar Diaby grabbed 13 rebounds to seal victory for their side with Nigeria Abubakar Usman scoring 17 points and 6 rebounds.

Day-2 Results:
Cote dIvoire 81-57 Benin
Nigeria 58-59 Togo

Day-3 Games:
Cote dIvoire Vs Nigeria 17H00

FIBA Africa Zone-III Qualifiers: Cote dIvoire bow to Nigeria 52-72

Nigeria Thursday dethrone Cote dIvoire as the leader of the FIBA Africa Zone-III elimination in Day-3 of the series with a 72-52 points win.
Nigeria who lost narrowly to Togo on Wednesday came out against Cote dIvoire who had enjoyed an unbeaten run in the qualifying series more determined and this paid off as the Nigerian side picked the first two quarters with 19-13 and 16-13 points for a half-time score-line of 36-26 points.

Cote dIvoire came out smoking in the third quarter but the effort could only yield a 20-19 points win going into the final quarter with a 9 points deficit with the Nigerian pilling up pressure on the Cote dIvoire side winning the last quarter by 17-06 points for a final score of 72-52 points which shot them to the top of the four-nation elimination series.
Nigeria Abubakar Usman led the floor with 19 points, Azuoma Dike added 14 points, Mattew Omonye contributed 10 points and 5 rebounds while Onyeka Ekpete grabbed 7 rebounds to secure victory for Nigeria who now share the same record with Cote dIvoire of 2-1.

FIBA Africa Zone-3 Qualifier: Nigeria defeat Benin 76-47

Nigeria senior national team, DTigers Saturday continue its superb form with a 76-47 defeat of Benin Republic in the reverse fixtures of the FIBA Africa Zone-3 qualifier going on in Lome, Togo.

Nigeria began the quest for the big win over Benin with a 22-09 points win in the first quarter, the Stanley Gumut captain side went on to win the second and third quarter by 15-06 and 28-16 points to move into the last quarter with a 34 points advantage of 65-31 points leaving the Benin side to pick the last quarter by 16-11 points for a final score-line of 76-47 points.

Matthew Omonye led the floor with a double double effort of 19 points and 10 rebounds, Abubakar Usman added 11 while Mohammed Bukar contributed 10 points with Onyeka Ekpete grabbing 13 rebounds for Nigeria victory.

With the victory over Benin , Nigeria remain on top of the four nation elimination series and confirm its place at the 2011 FIBA Africa Championship for Men (Cup of Nations) t be hosted by Cote dIvoire.

The Coach Sani Ahmed tutored Nigerian side will engage Togo on Sunday at 7.00pm local time 8.00 PM Nigeria time and play her last qualifying game against Cote dIvoire on Monday

FIBA Africa Zone-3 Qualifiers: Give your best NBBF President urges DTigers players

President of the Nigeria Basketball Federation, NBBF Tijjani umar Friday urge Nigeria senior national players, (DTigers) in Lome, Togo to give their best ahead of the three remaining games in the FIBA Africa Zone-3 elimination which enter its second round today.
The NBBF president while addressing the players in their Hotel Le Pelican says the nation is proud and solidly behind them but urge the players to give their best as the country continue its quest to make it to the continent biggest basketball showpiece in 2011 The FIBA Africa Championship for Men (CAN) to be hosted by Cote dIvoire.
Umar asked the players to put behind them the one-point lost to Togo on Wednesday and focus on winning their remaining game which began with the pairing against Benin Republic today (Saturday).

Nigeria currently lead the elimination series with five points from three games and look good to overcome Benin today at 5.00pm local time and 6.00 pm Nigeria time, the Coaches Sani Ahmed and Adeka Daudu tutored side will file out against host Togo at 7.00pm local time on Sunday and play its last game against Cote dIvoire on Monday at 5.00pm local time.

NBBF shortlists 18 for FIBA Africa Zone-III Qualifiers

The Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) has shortlist eighteen players to begin preparation ahead the 26th FIBA Africa Championship Zone-III qualifiers slated for Lome, Togo from August 6 through 18 this year.

According the Secretary General of the NBBF, Francis Gbiri that most of the players was drawn from the All-Stars Game the federation organized earlier this month.

The eighteen players to be tinkered by the duo of Coaches Sani Ahmed of Kano Pillars basketball club and Adeka Daudu of Dodan Warriors basketball club are to begin their preparation from the July 18 in Kaduna.

Kano Pillars has the largest number of invited players, the Nigeria league champion has four players which includes, Abubakar Usman, Ibrahim, Kelvin Nambam and Mattew Omonye; Kada Stars basketball club has three of its players invited for the Zone-III elimination they are Yusuf Yakubu, Adeolu Olaiya and Richio Dickson; Ebun Comets, Union Bank and Royal Hoopers basketball clubs each contributed two players.

The players are Yomi Joshua, Obumnaeme Onyia, Azuoma Dike, Onyeka Ekpete, Musa Usman and Victor Anthony; All-Stars Game MVP, Mohammed Bukar was invited from Dodan Warriors, Malik Tella from the Police Baton basketball club of Lagos, Manasseh Achii from Bauchi Nets while the duo of Louis Edem and Stanley Gumut who ply their trade in the Middle East league complete the list of invited players.

The players are expected in camp with their international passport, four passport photograph and training kits.

Nigeria will battle for one of the two slots in the zonal qualifiers alongside Togo, Benin Republic, Ghana, Liberia, Burkina Faso and Niger Republic

First Deepwater basketball club rose to the occasion and stop the dominance of First Bank

A new champion has emerged in the Nigeria domestic women league as First Deepwater basketball club rose to the occasion and stop the dominance of First Bank basketball club in the grand finale of the 6th edition of the Zenith Bank Women Premier League in Lagos Saturday night.

The First Deepwater ladies dominated the game from the first quarter resulting in a 24-09 points win for the Coaches Lateef Erinfolami and Shola Ogunade tutored Oil and Gas ladies who showed great determination to carry the day as they continue the onslaught in the second quarter though they dropped the quarter to the former champion by 20-14 points but they held on to the lead with a 38-29 points advantage going into the break.

The Coach Erinfolami side further widen the margin between them and the reigning Africa champion when they took the third quarter with the duo of Nkechi Akashili and Ijeoma Uchendu marshalling the First Deepwater offense and defense by 12-09 points and returned to win the fourth quarter by 16-11 points to end First Bank dominance of the Nigeria women league which span close to ten years with a 66-49 points victory.

Uchendu who was later adjudge the league best rebounder led the floor with a double double figure of 22 points, 12 rebounds, 9 assists and 2 steals while Akashili who emerged as the league Most Valuable Player (MVP) displacing First Bank guard Funmilayo Ojelabi also had a double double of 20 points, 10 rebounds and 3 assists with forward Kelechi Obasi contributing 13 points and 7 rebounds.

First Deepwater led the Coaches Adewumi Aderemi and Christopher Acha tutored First Bank in all department of the game watched by a capacity crowd as the Oil and Gas ladies grabbed a total of 47 rebounds (offense and defense) to First Bank 39, First Deepwater players gave a total of 18 assists as against First Bank 10 while they turned the ball over fifteen times against First Bank 20 turn-over.

First Deepwater Head Coach, Erinfolami attributed his side hard earned victory to dedication and total commitment on the part of the players and management of the modest side who storm the Nigeria scene in December 2008 and is only seasons in the Nigeria domestic league.

Coach Erinfolami who is winning a major title in the local scene since turning coach after a fruitful playing career says it is First Deepwater basketball club turn to dictate the pace in the Nigeria league and make appreciable impact in Africa and World club competitions.

We are not going to let our winning the Zenith Bank league title become a stumbling block to us rather we shall continue to build on this great achievement.

I want to dedicate the victory to the players for their dedication and commitment and the club management for always giving us words of encouragement even in the face of seen and unseen conspiracy against us especially by those whom we thought are our friends but we thank God for making it possible by crowning our effort by resounding success.

President of the Nigeria Basketball Federation, NBBF, Tijjani Umar praised all the ten teams that took part of the league right from the first phase in Kano earlier in the year.

He charged them to put in more effort so as to guarantee good competition.

Representative of the sponsor, Mrs. Bukky Latunji who stood in for the Deputy Managing Director of the foremost financial institution pledge Zenith Bank commitment to the enlistment of the girl-child through positive engagement like basketball.

The Zenith Bank Plc top shot gave a hint of the continued sponsorship of the Zenith Bank Women Premier League but says details will be worked out between the bank and the NBBF.

Also on hand to for the grand finale is the former president of the NBBF between 1990 and 2001, Senator Usman K. Umar (MNI) and Hon. (Engr.) Mohammed Ali Wudil who is a member of the House Committee on Sports.

Delta Force basketball club dependable player, Ogor Bulum won the highest scorers award with all three individual award-winner going home with a plaque from the NBBF and a laptop each from the sponsor Zenith bank Plc