Sunshine Angels on Saturday recorded the first win at the ongoing Mark D Ball Women’s Basketball Championship at the Indoor Sports Hall of Moshood Abiola Stadium, Abuja.
The Ondo State-based team was in fine form from start to the end to edge out HotCoal Sizzlers.
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It was 23 -13 in favour of the Sunshine Angels at the end of the third quarter.
An effort by HotCoal to turn the heat on their opponents in the final quarter was not successful as the encounter ended at 28-20.
The very low scoreline shows how bad domestic basketball has deteriorated in Nigeria.
But speaking during the opening ceremony, the organiser of the championship, Igoche Mark, said this is just one of the many interventions to revive domestic basketball in Nigeria.
He assured lovers of Basketball in Nigeria that plans were being perfected to have the tournament played constantly across the country, in a format replicating the NBA regular season games.
Mark said that the New Face of Basketball is a project focused on reviving the domestic component of the slam and dunk game.
He lamented how the league and grassroots aspects of Basketball in Nigeria were deflated for a very long time and unable to bounce, and asked all stakeholders to rally around him as one united family to sustain the momentum.
He said his target is to see the ball bouncing non-stop, and the young ones play as many games as possible just like in the NBA where 82 games are played in a regular season.
“Even if we cannot play 82 games, let’s play something close. This is what the New Face of Basketball is all about,” Mark stated.
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