Sports
Union Bank Records 3rd Victory In B/Ball League
Union Bank Basketball Club of Lagos recorded its third victory, beating Customs Basketball Club 67-65, in the Week Five fixtures of the ongoing 2011/12 DStv Men’s Basketball League played at the weekend.
Union Bank, 2010/11 First Runner-up of the league, led the first and second quarters of the game by 12-10 and 17-15 respectively, while the third quarter saw the two teams tying 20-20.
Customs claimed the last quarter with just two points 20-18 and that could not help it to record its first victory.
Customs, just promoted back into the league, had not won any of the five matches it had played so far. Union Bank has lost only one of the four matches it had played.
Coach Scott Nnaji of Customs, in an interview with newsmen, blamed his team’s loss on hard luck, saying “I think luck was not on our side at all because my players tried their best.”
Nnaji said the loss of so many free throws also robbed them of their first victory. He also attributed the team’s loss to technical fouls committed by his players.
He, however, expressed optimism of better performance in subsequent matches as the team could not afford to suffer relegation.
Coach Johnson Ayinla of Union Bank expressed delight that the team did not record a second loss.
“I am happy that we narrowly won this match; it was through sheer luck that we were able to win this game as Customs were all out to defeat us,” Ayinla said.
According to him, the team’s technical crew will continue to work on the young players to enable them to maintain the winning streak.
The second match of the day saw Ebun Comets defeating host and city rival, Lagos Islanders, 70-58 to record a second win in five matches they had played so far.
However, Lagos Islanders had recorded two losses in the five matches they had played.
Iwobi spoke to Tidesports source ahead of Nigeria’s crunch playoff semi-final against Gabon on Thursday, November 13, in Rabat, Morocco.
The 28-year-old was reacting to Nigeria’s shaky World Cup qualifying campaign that saw the Eagles finish second in Group C behind South Africa’s Bafana Bafana.
“We’ve managed to rescue ourselves from the dead,” Iwobi told Tidesports source.
We know we have the players and the abilities to compete against any other country in the world.”
The Fulham star pointed to Nigeria’s star power, highlighting African Footballer of the Year winners Ademola Lookman and Victor Osimhen as proof of the squad’s quality.
“We have last year’s African best player (Ademola Lookman), the year before that (Victor Osimhen),” he said.
“It’ll be a shame if we don’t make it, but we have a lot of confidence. We just have to prove it to ourselves.”
Nigeria’s path to the United States, Canada and Mexico has been turbulent, with two coaches departing during the early stages of qualifying before Éric Chelle steadied the ship to steer the Super Eagles into November’s CAF playoffs.
Four nations from the continent – Nigeria, Cameroon, DR Congo and Gabon – will vie for a solitary spot to compete in next March’s inter-confederation playoffs, with a view to joining the already nine qualified African nations at the Finals.
It would mark Iwobi’s second appearance at the World Cup Finals and the Super Eagles’ first since the 2018 edition of the competition.
Back then, Iwobi featured in all three games as Nigeria was knocked out in the group stage.
The Chief Executive Officer(CEO) and Publisher of the Atlantic Bell Online medium, Mr. Celestine Ogolo has advised sports writers in Nigeria to diversify in sports writing and not to concentrate on football reporting alone.
The Deputy National President of Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) Mr. Bonny Nyong has expressed commitment to support sports development and move SWAN forward.