Sports
KWARA Falcons of Ilorin beat Warlords Basketball Club of Abeokuta 69-67 in a keenly contested match on Sunday in Lagos to win the Sam Oguche Basketball Championship
The competition which began on Tuesday at the Indoor Sports Hall of the National Stadium had 10 elite basketball clubs competing for honours.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Kwara Falcons went home with the championship trophy and a N1 million cash prize, while Warlords went home with N500,000.
The Head Coach of Kwara Falcons, Baba Jubril, later told NAN that he was proud of his team’s performance.
“I’m excited about the victory. It was deserved and credit goes to my team for their hard work and resilience,” Jubril said.
Clubs which competed in the event include Comets, Rivers Hoopers, Lagos Legends, Nigeria Correction Service, Hot Coal of Abuja, Greizly Bears, Raptors and Mibaha of Benue.
In the championship’s women competition, First Bank of Lagos beat MFM basketball club 52-50 to emerge victorious.
The Head Coach of First Bank, Taiye Adenitis, while speaking after the game said the team deserved their hard-fought victory.
The coach said they had wanted to do more but the MFM team were on another level.
“It was a very competitive game. We had the best players and should dominate the game easily, but the MFM team were stoic and pushed us at every department,
“But we look forward to more competitions like this to keep us busy,”Adenitis said.
Captain of First Bank, Joy Ebega, on her part said the team worked hard for the victory going by the fact they won six straight games.
”It shows how good the team is. It’s a great victory for us and a big ‘thanks’ to Sam Oguche for the competition and we just want to prove ourselves as a solid team that works hard to achieve,” Ebega said.
Captain for the MFM team, Umuamaka Okoh, on her part said the team gave their best and lost by a narrow margin.
She said the team would come out better and stronger in the next edition of the competition.
Teams in the women’s competition included First Deepwater, Tap Queens, War Queens Lagos, Air Warriors, Sunshine of Akure, Raptors and Peace Academy.(NAN)
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Tags: Kwara Falcons Sam Oguche Basketball Championship
