Nigeria Sports Arena

Rivers Hoopers shook off a slow start to demolish new comers Ondo Raiders 85-28 in the ongoing NBBF Premier League tagged “President Cup” at the Indoor Sports Hall of the Kwara Stadium, Ilorin on Monday. Ikechuku Benjamin led the way with 16 points, one rebound, one assist and one steal including three pointers and 3/4 from the free throw line in 18 minutes. Solomon Ajegbeyi added 14 points, eight rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block. Ajegbeyi also shot a rare three pointer late in the game as he was cheered by his teammates on the bench. Other Hoopers' players on double digit: Ronald Alalibo had 12 points, five rebounds, two steals and one assist. He also shot 4/8 from the deep while Abdul Yahaya added 10 points, four rebounds, one assist and one steal. Rivers Hoopers were scoreless in the first three minutes of the game. They however found their rhythm midway through the second quarter as they took a 22-point lead at half time but not without a hu...

The Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Hon. Sunday Dare has appreciated Zenith Bank Nigeria Plc for partnering with the Nigeria Basketball Ball Federation for 15 years. The  who is in Lagos, made out time to watch the Women League basketball match between Air Warriors of Abuja and Dolphins of Lagos Sunday evening. The Minister praised Zenith bank for providing support and sponsorship for the game of basketball for well over a decade. In a tweet via his Twitter Handle @SundayDareSD, the Minister wrote: "Basket ball night - Watching the Zenith Basketball female league in Lagos where the Air Warriors of Abuja and Dolphins of Lagos are slugging it out. Zenith bank thanks for your 15-year support for Basket ball. I love this game !!" The comes in line with the Minister's resolve to pay attention to all sports federations in the country.

8 teams have booked their spots in the National Finals of the Total NBBF Division 2 league holding in Lagos between the 16th and 22nd of September. Ondo Kings emerged winners of the Atlantic Conference finals held in Akure after winning 4 out of the five games played. In the Savannah Conference, Coach Abdusamad Usman inspired a young Nigerian Prisons Basketball Club of Minna to 4 wins out of 5 to emerge champions of the conference heading into the finals. CAMAC of Bayelsa who finished 2nd behind Atlantic conference champions on inferior points difference will also be joined by Brave Hearts and Coal City of Enugu for the Total NBBF Division 2 league National Finals which will take place at the Indoor Sports Hall of the National Stadium. From the Savannah conference, Nassarawa Hurricanes, Bukavu Blinks of Kano and Samaru Bulls of Zaria also confirmed their places. League Director, Andrew Isokpehi thanked all the officials and Zonal Coordinators for a job well done in organising a league ...

The Nigeria Basketball Federation has appointed Otis Hughley as an immediate replacement for Sam Vincent who was fired as Head Coach of the senior women’s basketball team on Thursday. The appointment of the former NBA Coach was finalised after the NBBF leadership approved his program for the D’Tigress’ participation at the World Cup in Spain. NBBF President, Engineer Musa Kida said the leadership of the federation settled for Hughley as it became apparent that he is the “most immediate available option.” Kida emphasized that since Sam Vincent was not sacked because of poor results but that based on issues surrounding conflicting professional engagements, it was wise to replace him with a coach that will be readily available. “We needed to take a proactive step in the interest of the team who are preparing for the World Cup. We needed to fill the vacuum immediately and continue our preparation for Spain. “For many, parting ways with Vincent at this time was not a good de...

As part of his election manifesto, Engineer Musa Kida has re-stated the need to unite the divided house of Basketball in Nigeria under one umbrella for effective coordination and development. Speaking at the weekend in Lagos, Kida revealed that the crisis which has troubled the sports in recent years has left so much to be desired and has really affected its development. The front runner for the vacant presidential seat of the Nigeria Basketball Federation said progress will remain elusive without all stakeholders being on the same page and contributing their quota. “There is no way you can make progress in sports if it is not all-inclusive. Basketball by definition is a team game and some of us have played it, so we know what team work is all about.” The present Chairman of the Rivers State Basketball Association assured that NBBF under his leadership will embrace division of labour with everybody playing their part according to their abilities. “The president is...

With the recent commendable rise in youth Basketball programmes in Nigeria, which has directly influenced success of national U-16 teams and the resurfacing on Nigeria as a powerhouse in Africa.  The ancient city of Ibadan with a rich history of Basketball will on Saturday 30th January,  2016 will add to the conveyor belt of talent production as one of the former of the Oluyole Warriors Basketball club star in the 80's, Barr. Damola Awosika launches the Hoops Dreams Basketball Academy. President of the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) Mr. Tijjani Umar acknowledged and thanked the initiator of the programme,  Barr. Damola Awosika for his proactiveness and drive to build a structure that will sustain youth development and talent discovery in the State and the South West sub-region, adding to the Youth Alive Basketball programmes exsisting in Lagos and recently extended to Ekiti State last year. Mr Umar said "I acknowledge the opening of the Hoops Dreams Academy...

The Nigeria Basketball Federation has announced her 2016 Annual Stakeholders Consultative forum for Wednesday 3rd February , 2016 at the National Institute for Sport Auditorium, National Stadium, Package B, Abuja. According to the statement from the NBBF secretariat, delegates which include Cooperate sponsors, Team owners, Club chairmen, Club secretaries as well players, coaches, technical officials and the esteemed media are expected to arrive Abuja on  February 2nd as the forum billed take off at 9am prompt on Wednesday. All present at the assembly will witness milestone presentations, from first, a top managing consulting group signed to manage and develop the Nigerian Basketball Federation’s digital space, i.e website and social media accounts. As well as, presentations from the Referees and Coaches Associations, both inaugurated and reconstituted respectively after the 2015 consultative forum which had over 150 stakeholders in attendance in Abuja. The Stakeholders for...

The Fantastic 9 Nigerian girls at the FIBA Africa U16 championship brought their World Championship Fantasy to reality as they cruised to an hard fought 54-51 points victory over Mozambique in the Semi finals of the African U16 Women Championship in Madagascar. Nigeria started out slowly trailing 5-16 in the 1st quarter, but shook off the tension and powered back with 20-8 points run in the 2nd quarter to take a 25-24 lead to the half time break. The 3rd quarter had both teams neck to neck, but Nigeria still managed a 1 point lead (36-35) going into the final quarter after both sides scored 11 points apiece. Despite the superior rebounding from Mozambique 52-38 over Nigeria in the game. Nigeria pulled through out scoring Mozambique 12-4 from inside the paint and shooting 54% from free throw line compared to Mozambique who managed just 46%. Chinelo Lucy Ibeh  and Isioma Vannessa Oduah lead the floor with 16 points apiece, while Ene Adams did massive job of picking 14 rebounds des...

The Nigeria Basketball Federation says it will continue to promote basketball development from the grass root in all the geo-political zones, to this end the Federation will be giving technical support to the forth-coming annual Samuel Oguche youth Basketball Camp which is billed for Abuja in the month of May.   The famed summer basketball camp for youths which has been held in many cities across the world since 2007, is scheduled to commence on May 18th to 22nd in the city of Abuja.   Ex-basketball international Samuel Oguche, Founder and organizer of the yearly event hinted that all arrangements have been made by the foundation to ensure a hitch-free camp.   “This year’s camp will feature exposure to the rudiments of basketball and basketball drilling to be handled by experienced and national team coaches with world class training facilities; motivational speeches by successful individuals and sports icons as well as career talk and mentoring on having s...

By-Bball Naija There is an African saying that if the knife is thrown up a thousand times, the handle will always hit the ground first. We cannot do things he same way over and over again and expect different results. I am beginning to think that this is one of our major problems in Nigeria sports. I was reading The Adobe 2015 Digital Trends Briefing when a paragraph caught my attention. The digital trends briefing is a quarterly digital intelligence briefing which is based on a global survey of more than 6,000 marketing professionals. The report highlights how business development leaders in corporate organisations grow their businesses and stay ahead of competitors. The paragraph says, “It is no secret that customer experience (CX) has emerged as a key priority for many organisations over the last few years. The emphasis on CX coincides with rising consumer expectations, which has led brands to focus on customer satisfaction or even delight at every touch point in ...

Nigeria Booked qualification ticket to the 2015 FIBA Africa Basketball championship in Tunisia and the All African Games in Congo with a 63-50 victory over Burkina Faso in the 2nd Leg of the qualifiers at the Indoor Sports Hall of the National stadium in Surulere, Lagos. The D’Tigers who won the 1st leg by 23 points in Ouagadougou jumped off the starting block in style, in front of the ecstatic Lagos crowd with an 8 points lead in the 1st quarter with the score line at 18-10 points.  Though missing a couple of free throws in the 2nd quarter, the D’Tigers extended their lead 32-17 to go on the half time break with a 15 points lead thanks to good offensive display.  It was a tougher game for the host after the break as the Burkinabes’ gave a tough fight in the 2nd half winning both the 3rd and 4th quarters  15-14 and 18-17 points respectively.  However, a relentless Nigerian side held on for the much needed victory to keep the 2016 Rio Olympics dre...

By-Oluwafemi Adefeso The Nigeria national men’s basketball team, the D’Tigers will take on their Burkina Faso counterparts on Wednesday in the 2nd leg of the 2015 Afrobasket/ All African Games qualifiers at the National Stadium Surulere, Lagos. The D’Tigers who emerged champions at the just concluded 4 Nation tournament in South Africa will hope to seal the deal to the 2015 FIBA Africa Basketball Championship in Tunisia and All African Games in Congo Brazzaville tomorrow having defeated their opponents 83-57 in the 1st leg in Ouagadougou. You can witness all the action live from 6PM at the Indoor Sports hall of the National Stadium. The game will be televised live on SuperSport Select1 on DSTV and GOTV.