President of FIBA Africa Zone 3, Col. Sam Ahmedu (rtd.), has promised that there is no going back on the organisation of the 3×3 Tour which inaugural event was staged in Lagos from June 18 to 21, 2015.
After the event at the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos, Ahmedu said the Tour has come to stay.
He told TheNiche: “We thank all stakeholders that made the inaugural event a successful one and I want to promise that there is no going back on the future organisation of the event.
“We’ve noticed some loopholes and hitches during the organisation of the just-concluded event and we are going to correct all the loopholes.
“That means that the second edition of the event will be better organised than the inaugural edition.”
Team Nigeria defeated Team Cote d’Ivoire by 17 to 13 points in the Senior Men category, while Team Togo defeated Team Ghana to win the third place match.
As a reward, Team Nigeria went home with $2,000 while Team Cote d’Ivoire received $1,000 and Team Togo $500.
Stanley Gumut of Team Nigeria was adjudged the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the category.
In the Senior Women category, Team Nigeria confirmed its superiority in the event as it defeated Team Togo by 21 to 9 points in the final, while Team Benin Republic defeated Team Ghana by 13 to 7 points to clinch the third place.
The Nigerian women went home with $1,000 while Team Togo and Team Benin Republic received $750 and $300 in that order.
Chioma Udeaja of Team Nigeria was adjudged the MVP of the category.
Nigeria’s dominance in the zone was concluded in the Under-18 Girls category where Nigeria took out Team Benin Republic 11-3 in the final after coming tops in a three team round robin preliminaries that had Team Togo also in the mix. Nigeria’s Menah Daniel also took home the MVP award in the category.
However, Team Liberia clinched the Under-18 Boys category after beating Team Cote d’Ivoire by 14 to 12 points.
Team Togo, however, won the third place match after beating Team Nigeria by 11 to 8 points.
There were also cash rewards for the Slam Dunk champion, three points shootout champions for the four categories.