Basketball
D’Tigress Slump to First Defeat Against Male Side, Raptors
Nigeria’s D’Tigress lost to male side, Raptors Basketball Club of Lagos 51-71 in their first test match ahead of the 2017 Afrobasket Women competition.
The game played Wednesday evening inside the Indoor Sports Hall of the Lagos National stadium was witnessed by Vice President of the Nigeria Basketball Federation, Babs Ogunade and two board members, Col Samuel Ahmedu (rtd) and Felix Awogu including an impressive turnout of fans.
The Division 1 side led by Charles Ibeziako led with 10 points in the opening minutes of the first quarter, a prelude to the loss by the national team handled on the night by Peter Ahmedu.
Despite making a steady recovery into the game, it was a case of too little too late as the Senior Women’s National Team trailed by 25points to 14 at the end the first quarter.
The second quarter saw a D’Tigress team with a high level of metal alertness, defensive discipline and good attacking moves as they took the initiative from the Raptors team who were desperate to make an impression after missing an automatic promotion to the Premier League at the end of the 2016 season.
The players all conspired to allow the opposition score just 2 baskets while the D’Tigress scored 16 points to end the game at 30-28 in their favour at the end of the 2nd quarter.
Raptors used physical advantage in the third quarter, punishing D’Tigress with series of fast breaks after the team failed to deal with many rebounds.
D’Tigress only managed 10 more points to their scores as Raptors stretched open the lead by 56-38.
Speaking after the game, the team’s assistant coach, Peter Ahmedu who stood in for the head coach, Sam Vincent expressed delight in the team. Ahmedu said that the team will get better after one or two more friendlies before jetting out to Bamako for the Afrobasket competition
“With what I have seen so far, I am very impressed because this is the first game we are playing together since the arrival of the foreign players from the United States of America.
“Managing over 20 girls on the bench was another problem. To look at them and pass instruction was another problem.”
He promised to go back to the drawing board, make the necessary corrections with the technical crew headed by Sam Vincent who arrived Lagos on Wednesday.
On the other side, Ibeziako of Raptors described playing against the national team as a big opportunity, days before representing the country at Africa’s largest women’s basketball fiesta.
Despite losing, Ibeziako was full of praise for the team. “It is tough for women to play against men. But with what I have seen, they are tough and will represent Nigeria very well.”
An impressed Ogunade expressed optimism that in the next couple of days, the team should be ready to launch a title challenge in Mali.
“Initially, they were jittery but as the game went on, they got better and that is truly the case in a team sport. The more games you play, the more you get better and I am hoping by the time we play the next game, we will be doing better than this”, said Ogunade.
Musa Kida, the president of the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF), has been appointed as a non-executive chairman of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), the country’s apex oil company. His appointment is part of the sweeping overhaul that the Nigerian president, Bola Tinubu made in the first working day after the Sallah break.
The sacking of the board of the NNPC sees the appointment of Bashir Bayo Ojulari as the new Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO), replacing Mele Kolo Kyari. Prior to his current appointment, Kida was the Deputy Managing Director, Deep Water Services, of Total Nigeria.
Join the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0H
Basketball
NSC DG Bukola Olopade Congratulates NBBF Boss Musa Kida for new appointment as NNPC Chairman
The Director General of the National Sports Commission NSC, Bukola Olopade, has congratulated the President of the Nigeria Basketball Federation, NBBF, Musa Kida, for his appointment as the new Board Chairman of the Nigeria National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Olopade said Musa Kida has been one of Nigeria’s most efficient and Productive Sports administrators who has sacrificed a lot for the growth of Nigerian Basketball.
The DG maintained that his latest appointment is a testament to his years of passion, hard work, dedication and a very successful track record in the oil sector for more than two decades.
” Musa Kida is an accomplished administrator whose achievements cut across both the oil sector and Nigerian basketball. I have no doubt that the NNPC Limited will attain better efficiency and attract more investment under his watch”.
” Under his leadership as the President of the Nigeria Basketball Federation, we have seen the steady growth of the country’s basketball and how the National teams have continued to achieve new heights.
” At the last Olympic Games in France, the Nigeria Women’s Basketball team, D’Tigress was one of the shining stories for Team Nigeria, where they set a new record by making it to the knockout phase before losing to the United States”.
” I personally know the efforts behind the scenes that kida put in for Nigeria to achieve that feat with the girls in France and the Nigerian girls have been an unrivalled team on the continent for some time now”.
The DG added that he does not doubt that Musa Kida will use his new position to further earnest the development of Nigerian Sports especially basketball especially now that there is a new focus on growing a sustainable Sports Economy.
” Whilst the Oil sector will benefit immensely from the Expertise of Musa Kida as the new Board Chairman of the NNPC Limited, Mr President, has further helped to place Nigerian Sports in a better pedestal by putting one of us in a very strategic place like the NNPC”, he concluded.
Join the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0H
Basketball
FIBA names Nigeria’s Agada among those who starred the most on the last day of the 2025 AfroBasket Qualifiers
The 16 teams that will be competing at this year’s FIBA AfroBasket from 12-24 August have been confirmed, with some teams securing their places on the final day of qualifying.
A quintet of individuals put in stellar performances to send their teams to this year’s African championship in style.
Teams have 169 days to prepare for the 2025 edition of the AfroBasket set to be hosted by former champions Angola, who will be chasing a record-extending 12th title.
FIBA- Africa looked at the matches and the players and featured nine players who were the stars of the final day on Sunday.
Here is FIBA’s analysis: The return of the Tokyo Olympian has been a blessing for Abdulrahman Mohammed’s Nigeria.
For the second game in a row, Agada was a thorn in their side’s side, scoring 23 points in a convincing 77-62 win over 2021 AfroBasket semifinalists Cape Verde.
The 30-year-old played just over 30 minutes and finished two rebounds shy of a double-double while adding six assists and five steals for an efficiency rating of 29.
Nigeria entered the competition after an 0-3 start, but his disruptive presence on the floor helped them to a 3-0 run to qualify, averaging 19 points, 7.7 rebounds and 6.3 assists.
The other players highlighted are: Ousmane Drame of Guinea, Karim Maneof Senegal, Childe Dundao of Angola, Siriman Kanoute of Mali, as well as Ntore Habimana (Rwanda) Aliou Fadiala Diarra (Mali) Allan Dokossi (Central African Republic)and Nisre Zouzoua (Cote d’Ivoire)
Follow the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0H
- WOMEN'S FOOTBALL1 week ago
Naira rain falls on Nigeria’s Flamingos after a 4-0 defeat of Algeria
- OBITUARY5 days ago
NFF mourns the demise of former FIFA referee, Bosede Momoh
- Nigerian Football3 days ago
Financial rainfall awaits Nigeria’s Flamingos for every goal scored in Algeria
- U-17 AFCON1 week ago
Morocco crowned CAF U-17 AFCON champions after dramatic penalty shootout win over Mali
- U-20 FOOTBALL1 week ago
Nigeria begin CAF Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations title chase with Tunisian clash
- Nigerian Football7 days ago
Remo Stars maintain ‘7Up’ lead over Rivers United
- feature5 days ago
Ghana’s Cardinal, Appiah Turkson, listed as a possible Pope
- Nigerian Football3 days ago
Former WAFU President, Ogufere mourns Christian Chukwu