With heavy down pour in Lagos last Saturday, thunder struck twice at the Indoor Sports Hall of the National Stadium in Lagos as the Savannah Conference All Stars won their second straight DStv Premier Basketball League All Stars game, with a flamboyant display of long range shots, Alley hoops and high octane Slam dunks.
Powered by reigning All Stars Most Valuable Player (MVP) Abubakar Usman’s 31 points off seven, three points shot and Kano Pillars team mate, Ibrahim Yusuf’s 18 points including four from behind the arc, the Savannah Conference All Stars put up a shooting clinic on their way to a 102-66 points victory over the Atlantic Conference All stars team.
Despite boasting of the likes of legendary Tunji Awojobi who was limited to just nine points, Ben Uzoh (11points) and William Ndoumbe (nine points) all on their roster, the Atlantic Conference All Stars were dominated in the second and final quarter (10-26) & (16-30), despite starting with a blast trailing by one (18-19) in the opening quarter and put up a strong fight back after the break in the third (22-27).
Mark Mentors Azuoma Dike who in previous seasons stared for the Atlantic Conference team added nine points from the bench with a perfect 3/3 from behind the arc. Team mates, Stanley Gumut scored 11 points with Center, Victor ‘Koko’Anthony dominant on the boards adding 10 rebounds along with 12 points and 3 blocks to complete the blowout win for the boys from the North.
2014 DStv All stars game MVP, Usman retained his MVP trophy going home with a DStv Explora decoder for his exploits, while magical Lagos Islander’s forward, William Ndoumbe who put up a show in the Slam Dunk Contest took the Slam Dunk King’s crown with style.
Mark Mentors Timothy Kwaor shoved off the stiff challenge of team mate Azuoma Dike and Sola Alayande (Lagos Islanders) to retain his three point shooting contest trophy which also had a DStv Explora Decoder to go along with.
The fun fair of the day was taken to the peak as the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) honoured the men who transformed and made the face of Basketball what we see today.
Some of the legends including Coach Alabi Adelanwa and Ganiyu Otenigbagbe famed to have developed the Dream, Hakeem Olajuwon before he went on to dominate the world of basketball. Coach Agboola Pinheiro who played and coached the national team (Men, Women and Juniors) and the famous Leventis Buffalos who dominated the Nigerian Basketball scene for many years, Coach Oliver B. Johnson who left the United States of America in 1967 to coach basketball and never went back coaching the likes of Ganiyu Otenigbagbe and Adelanwa on the national team and the maestro behind the dominance of the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) in the Nigerian University Games up until today.
The likes of Late Maj. Gen Joseph Garba, Coach Godwin Anani and Emmanuel Chagu were also given Posthumous Awards.
