Basketball
Kano Pillars Begin Basketball Conference Six with Big Win
Kano Pillars of Kano, on Monday opened their Savannah Conference Six play-offs with a big win over arch rivals Gombe Bulls with a 104-97 win over Gombe Bulls which came second behind the Kano side after the regular season.
Star man for Kano Pillars, Abubakar Usman, who has also won the Most Valuable Player (MVP) in the league several times spearheaded his team’s massive score line with 29 points while Lucky Subel, Azouma Dike and Dele Ademola contributed 18, 15 and 12 points respectively to be mentioned among those that scored above 10 points in the game that thrilled fans inside the Murtala Square Indoor Hall in Kaduna.
In the high scoring game on the opening day, Sylvanus Yakubu, also put up a splendid performance to lead his team’s scoring chart with 29 points while Kator Gar contributed 16 points with Ibe Agu and Simon Owoicho scoring 11 and 10 points respectively among the top scorers on the night.
Pillars took all the quarters with a 34-25 points win in the first quarter, 55-44 win in the second quarter, 83-72 win in the third quarter before fighting hard to consolidate in the last quarter with 104-97 win to wrap up the game.
Sylvanus Yakubu of Gombe Bulls described the loss as very painful. “This is a very painful loss. We never planned to lose this game; in fact we came into this competition to beat Kano Pillars first and win all our remaining games.
“Now we have lost this one. We lost because they took care of the ball better than us. We made too many mistakes and were a bit indiscipline coupled with the fact that we were too much in a hurry. We did not play to coach’s instructions.
“We knew it will be tough but we have beaten them twice and they have now beaten us three times. We have resolved not to lose any game after this,” he said.
Monday’s Results
Kada Stars 69-88 Plateau Peaks
Niger Potters 77-58 Bauchi Net
Gombe Bulls 97-104 Kano Pillars
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.
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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.
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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)
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