Chief coach of First Bank Basketball Club, Aderemi Adewunmi, has said his team’s victory at the just-concluded Zenith Bank Women League is well-deserved.
The Elephant girls with their hard won trophy
After the crunch encounter, he told TheNiche: “We actually worked very hard to achieve this victory, and I am bold to say that it was a deserved victory for us.
“The opposition was very keen, but my players were determined not to let me and the management down, and that was what happened.”
After missing out on the title for four straight seasons to First Deepwater Basketball Club, First Bank returned to winning ways with 65 points over hard-fighting Dolphins Basketball Club who garnered 51 points for its sixth Zenith Bank Women League title, out of 10 editions of the league.
The epic final, which drew a large crowd, was keenly contested in the first half, with First Bank winning by just two points (35-33).
The third quarter saw First Bank extend her lead by eight (51-43) before blowing out Dolphins in the final quarter with a 14-8 run to claim the top spot of the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF)-organised Zenith Bank league.
Amaka Nwakamma of Dolphins led the floor with 22 points and seven rebounds in the losing effort, while First Bank’s offence was powered by the duo of Nkem Akaraiwe and Oluchi Nzekwe with 15 points, nine rebounds and 10 points.
However, the intricate rebounding and defence of Chioma Udeaja, who had a final record of 16 rebounds with six points to go with it, was the tonic that got the ‘Elephant Girls’ the much needed victory and herself the Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award.
Former champion, First Deepwater, settled for third place with a 96-45 points win over FCT Angels Basketball Club.
Dolphins Bintu Badmus and Amaka Nwakamma claimed the league top rebound and highest scorer award, while the league Top five players went to Upe Atosu (First Deepwater), Patience Okpe (Dolphins), Nkechi Akashili (First Deepwater), Chioma Udeaja (First Bank) and Amaka Nwakamma (Dolphins).
FCT Angels, who came fourth, won the fair-play trophy.