Kano Pillars Clinch DStv Basketball Title

Abubakar Usman was red-hot in the final game of the DStv Premier Basketball League held at the Indoor Hall of National Stadium, Lagos as Kano Pillars ran away with an 83 -72 points win over Lagos Islanders last Tuesday night.
Usman who scored 35 points, including 4 rebounds and 3 assists to emerge the most valuable player (MVP) of the league also received a public apology from the amiable Alhaji Tijjani Umar, president of Nigerian Basketball Federation (NBBF) “for my dropping you from the Libyan trip.” The Kano side also had Ibrahim Y, who scored 18 points and 8 rebounds, as well as Matthew O, with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Matthew also won the league’s top rebounder with 30.
On a night Lagos fans expected the resurgent Islanders to upturn the tides against their opponents with singing, dancing and so much uncoordinated vuvuzela sound, it was the boys from Kano’s kofar mata that went on court rampage to emerge back-to-back champions. Pillars showed early sign of retaining the title as they ended the first quarter 23 -16 points. They had their biggest lead in this quarter with a 19 - 5 points.
The Islanders fought back in the second quarter and closed the lead to 24 - 35 before ending the quarter 31- 44. They pushed on with a renewed vigour in the third quarter as the fans urged them on, but the Pillars held on tenaciously to a 60 - 51. However, Islanders had their biggest chance of taking the lead early in the fourth quarter as they closed Pillars’ lead to 65 - 64 points. At this point, Pillars’ veteran coach Sani Abubakar, called a time-out for a pep talk.
Sani was emphatic: “Do not panic! Play them hard, but don’t foul anyone, the title is ours to lose.” With a roar, they entered the court, but Islanders would not be easily cowed. The charismatic Usman dazzled with a three pointer; the hall roared in appreciation and the Pillars spirit was back. With Islanders now looking vulnerable in the defence, Usman marshaled his team to a 83-72 points victory, making it a back-to-back Premier League title for the Kano side with so much energy to spare.
The win also fetched Pillars whopping N1 million prize money from DStv, Africa’s premium payTV channel, while Islanders received N750, 000. Another Lagos side, Dodan Warriors who earlier defeated Royal Hoppers of Port Harcourt 70 - 64 points to win the third place position were rewarded with N500, 000.
Segun Fayose, head of Corporate Communications, Multichoice Nigeria expressed delight at the outcome of the league and promised that the company’s sponsorship of the game is aimed at taking it to a higher level. “DStv is not just in the sponsorship of the game for fun, we hope to take Nigerian basketball to a greater level. We have the talent in this country and this is our own way of helping to build up that talent to become champions,” said Fayose.
Felix Awogu, general manager, SuperSport Nigeria, the DStv channel that broadcasts the league games live across Africa, said the company will go the long haul to ensure Nigeria becomes the true champions of the game in the continent. “We’re not sponsoring this game for the short time benefit; we’re in it for the long haul towards ensuring that Nigeria becomes the true champions of basketball in Africa.”