Basketball
Pillars close to Final 8 ticket, as Rivers Hoopers consolidate
Kwese Premier Basketball League defending champions, Kano Pillars, have maintained their winning streak in the ongoing Savannah Conference Final Six.
The team recorded another big win against Kada Stars of Kaduna with 91-58 points, thus making a very bold statement about a possible retention of the Conference title and qualification for the final eight tournament which has been scheduled for Kano.
It was an easy win for Pillars against Kada Stars who got promoted to the Conference Six following the inability of Mark Mentor and Defenders of Abuja to participate in the championship holding inside the Indoor Hall of the Murtala Square.
Pillars began the game businesslike winning the opening half with 29-4 points, securing 50 points against Kada’s 23 in the second quarter and taking the third quarter with 65 to 41 against the Kaduna based team before ending the game with a 33 points gap in a 91-58 finish.
Pillar’s Azouma Dike who led his team’s scoring chart scored 21 points to spearhead Kano Pillars’ onslaught against Kada Stars.
Former Most Valuable Player in the league, Abdul Yahaya contributed 20 points while Mathew Onmonya scored 10 points among the top scorers to help route Kada Stars.
Speaking after the win, the highest scorer in the game and one of the most experienced player in the Nigerian Basketball League, Azouma Dike, described it as a very important win since in Pillars’ tradition no game is taken lightly.
“It was a good game. The game against Bulls was like the finals. But in Pillars’ tradition every game is important and we take every game as it comes. We don’t look at teams so we take all our games seriously,” says the former Mark Mentors of Abuja player.
Meanwhile, hostilities at the Atlantic Conference of the championship are getting tougher with all the six invited teams; Kwara Falcons, Rivers Hoopers, Hoops and Read, Nigeria Customs, Oluyole Warriors and Police Batons competing in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital.
Rivers Hoopers against all odds are doing well in the Atlantic Conference 6. The Hoopers defeated Customs 70- 56, while Hoops and Read thrashed Oluyole Warriors 70-47. Those who will qualify for the Final 8 are fasting emerging.
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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