A player with Kano Pillars
Basketball Club, Adeolu Olaiya-Ojo,  has on Tuesday expressed confidence in the team’s capacity to defend their title as the 2015 DStv Basketball Playoffs begins in Lagos.
Pillars, who are seeking a third consecutive championship title, defeated the Union Bank of Lagos, 67- 51 in their opening game to signal to other contenders that they would not relinquish the title easily.
Olaiya-Ojo told newsmen that the team was in shape and would take one game at a time, having worked hard to reach the final playoffs.
“We are happy to be at the final playoffs once again, it’s going to be tough but we are confident of emerging victorious at the end.
“We are here to defend our title, we have the experience, we know it’s a different ball game with different teams, so we are prepared for the task ahead,” he said.
Coach Ahmed Sanni said that winning their opening match against a very tough opponent was good for the team, but added that the players would not allow the victory to make them complacent.
“It’s a good result, we are happy to get our first win over a very competitive side, but we will not allow that to distract our focus.
“We are here to defend our title and we are confident of being victorious at the end, however this will be done with great cautious and firm concentration,” Sanni said.
Pillars took a slim lead in the first and second quarter recording, 15-13 and 29-27 but resumed the third quarter in a blistering form outscoring Union Bank, 50-35.
The team never looked back in the fourth quarter as they exploited the poor defensive play of the Union Bank team with aggressive play which gave them the victory.
Coach Rotimi Savage of the Union Bank told newsmen that the team lost concentration and made mistakes especially in the third and final quarters of the contest.
“We started well but lost concentration at the third quarter which Pillars capitalised on, it was a good contest, we will bounce back with a win in our second match,” Savage said.
In other matches played at the Indoor Sports Hall of the National Stadium, Surulere, Mark Mentors of Abuja defeated Lagos Islanders, 78-68 to record their first victory in the championship.
First timers in the final Playoffs, Customs Basketball Club of Lagos was able to scale through the hard marking Gombe Bulls with a slim victory of 63-60 in a tension soaked match.
High flying Dodan Warriors Club of Lagos on their own part was merciless against Kada Stars of Kaduna, outscoring the Kaduna team, 78-53 in a match that was seemingly a one-sided encounter.