Daily Trust (Abuja)
Abiodun Jimoh
4 November 2009
Lagos — The impressive performance of the Kano based basketball club, Kano Pillars at the DStv Premier Basketball League paid off on Tuesday night at the Indoor Hall of National Stadium, Lagos when Abubakar Usman Ndah inspired his team to an outright victory over Lagos Islanders club.
Ndah who was red-hot in the final game led the Pillars to ran away with an inspiring 83 -72 points win over the Lagos based club in a decisive match watched by over two thousand spectators who thronged the venue to support their darling clubs respectively.
Total of 35 points, including 4 rebounds and 3 assists was recorded by the player to emerge the most valuable player (MVP) of the league as he also received a public apology from the amiable Alhaji Tijjani Umar, President of Nigerian Basketball Federation (NBBF) "for my dropping you from the Libyan trip". The Kano side also had Ibrahim Y, who scored 18 points and 8 rebounds, as well as Matthew O, with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Matthew also won the league's top rebounder with 30.
It was on a night when Lagos fans expected the resurgent Islanders to upturn the tides against their opponents with singing, dancing and so much uncoordinated vuvuzela sound, it was the boys from Kano's kofar mata that went on court rampage to emerge back-to-back champions. Pillars showed early sign of retaining the title as they ended the first quarter 23-16 points. They had their biggest lead in this quarter with a 19-5 points.
The Islanders fought back in the second quarter and closed the lead to 24-35 before ending the quarter 31- 44. They pushed on with a renewed vigour in the third quarter as the fans urged them on, but the Pillars held on tenaciously to a 60-51. However, Islanders had their biggest chance of taking the lead early in the fourth quarter as they closed Pillars' lead to 65-64 points. At this point, Pillars' veteran coach Sani Abubakar, called a time-out for a pep talk.
"Do not panic! Play them hard, but don't foul anyone, the title is ours to lose". With a roar, they entered the court, but Islanders would not be easily cowed. The charismatic Usman dazzled with a three pointer; the hall roared in appreciation and the Pillars spirit was back. With Islanders now looking vulnerable in the defence, Usman marshalled his team to a 83-72 points victory, making it a back-to-back Premier League title for the Kano side with so much energy to spare," Sani stressed.
The win also fetched Pillars whopping N1 million prize money from DStv, Africa's premium payTV channel, while Islanders received N750, 000. Another Lagos side, Dodan Warriors who earlier defeated Royal Hoppers of Port Harcourt 70-64 points to win the third place position were rewarded with N500,000.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2009 Daily Trust. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com).
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
