Emmanuel Odah, the coach of FCT Hardrockers basketball club, has described the ongoing Mark \u2018D\u2019 Ball Men\u2019s Basketball Championship as \u201ca very tough competition\u201d.<\/p>\n
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Phase 1 Group 2 round of games in the three-month-long competition began on Sunday and will end on Saturday.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis championship is very challenging and competitive, and there are no easy wins,\u201d\u00a0Odah told NAN on the sidelines of the championship after his team recorded their first win.<\/p>\n
They had rallied back from a set down to spank Warri-based basketball clubside CAMAC 100-79.<\/p>\n
John Idoga was the standout player for the FCT Hardrockers with 26 points, including 11 rebounds, three assists and four turnovers.<\/p>\n
He combined well with fellow teammate Favour Adama who himself had 24 points, including five rebounds, one assist and four turnovers.<\/p>\n
\u201cMark \u2018D\u2019 Ball basketball is indeed a very tough championship. In this competition, there are no favourites or minnows as every team is a potential champion.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven from the ones (similar competitions) organised in Otukpo, you cannot predict who is going to win the championship,\u201d Odah added while\u00a0expressing joy at his team\u2019s hard-fought victory.<\/p>\n
NAN reports that they had lost 69-72 to Suleja Bulldogs in their first game on Sunday.<\/p>\n
The coach said the competition was tough because of the variety of contests.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a mix-up everywhere, everybody is excited, everyone is happy with the competition and ready to play.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s indeed a great atmosphere and when you have a great atmosphere, you give your best. So, that is what we have been experiencing right here,\u201d Odah said.<\/p>\n
The coach who had blamed his team\u2019s first game loss on poor officiating noted that his team had a better performance then, compared to the second game they won.<\/p>\n
\u201cIronically, our first game was better than that of today. If you check the statistics, we had lesser turnovers yesterday (Sunday) than we had today (Monday).<\/p>\n
\u201cMy concern about basketball most of the time is this \u2018human drama\u2019 and I am so concerned about the turnovers because they are like failures.<\/p>\n
\u201cThough we won, but I have a lot more to talk about today (Monday) than I had yesterday (Sunday).<\/p>\n
\u201cYesterday (Sunday) I was a little bit unhappy and like I said, I don\u2019t blame it on referees but I didn\u2019t like the last two minutes of their officiating which wasn\u2019t too good, precisely speaking.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday we had a fairer and better match. I think we came out with our A-game today,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Odah noted that the key to his team\u2019s victory was in the defensive area, adding that they had to go back to the drawing board to correct their few defensive errors.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe trick is defence. It\u2019s only defence that makes the difference in basketball.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody can score. Anybody can throw the ball and it will go into the net, but your ability to score and also stop your opponent from scoring is what makes the difference.<\/p>\n
\u201cYesterday, our opponents scored with 10 three-pointers against us, which was 30 points. For our opponents to get that much points from the three-point line was really crazy!<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, today we worked on defence. We have a special kind of defence we play, which we call \u2018the arrow\u2019. We worked on it today and it helped us out,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
FCT Hardrockers next take on a strong Civil Defenders side on Tuesday who themselves will be looking for redemption after failing to secure their second win on Monday.<\/p>\n
They lost 71-77 to Suleja Bulldogs at the end of a pulsating encounter.<\/p>\n
Kareem Ademola was the Most Valuable Player (MVP) for the Bulldogs after putting up a man-of-the-match performance that saw him hit 21 points.<\/p>\n
These include seven rebounds, two assists and four turnovers, which helped to create an upset against the much-fancied NSCDC team.<\/p>\n
In other results of matches also played on Monday, Plateau Peaks lost their second consecutive game after losing 62-71 to Kwara Falcons.<\/p>\n
Nigeria Customs out dunked Niger Potters 98-58 for their second consecutive win.<\/p>\n
The result meant that Nigeria Customs (+61), Kwara Falcons (+19) and Suleja Bulldogs (+9) with two wins from two games played so far lead the Group 2 table.<\/p>\n
They have four points each, and are placed first, second and third respectively.<\/p>\n
FCT Hardrockers (+18) and Civil Defenders (-4), are fourth and fifth respectively with three points each having won one game and lost one.<\/p>\n
Plateau Peaks (-11), CAMAC (-42) and Niger Potters (-50), with two points each after recording no wins so far in the competition, are sixth, seventh and eighth respectively.<\/p>\n
Five teams will qualify from the eight-team group for the Round of 16.<\/p>\n
They will join the likes of Mo\u2019 Heat, Gombe Bulls, Hot Coal Ballers, Nile University Spartans and APA Flames who have already qualified from Phase 1 Group 1.<\/p>\n
Phase 1 Group 2 standings after two matches<\/p>\n
S\/N TEAM \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 P\u00a0\u00a0 W\u00a0 L\u00a0\u00a0 GF\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 GA\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 PTS GD
\n1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Nigeria Customs\u00a0 2\u00a0\u00a0 2\u00a0 0\u00a0 185\u00a0\u00a0 124\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 4\u00a0 \u00a0 +61
\n2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Kwara Falcons\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2\u00a0\u00a0 2 0\u00a0 148\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 129\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a03\u00a0 \u00a0+19
\n3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Suleja Bulldogs\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2\u00a0\u00a0 2\u00a0 0\u00a0 149\u00a0\u00a0 140\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 4\u00a0 \u00a0 +9
\n4.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0FCT Hardrockers 2\u00a0 1\u00a0 1\u00a0 169\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 151\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 3\u00a0 \u00a0+18
\n5.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Civil\u00a0Defenders\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2\u00a0 1\u00a0 1\u00a0 138\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 142\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a03\u00a0\u00a0 -4
\n6.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Plateau Peaks\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2\u00a0 0\u00a0 2\u00a0 127\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 138\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2\u00a0 -11
\n7.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 CAMAC\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a02\u00a0 0\u00a0 2\u00a0 145\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 187\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2\u00a0\u00a0 -42
\n8.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Niger Potters\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2\u00a0 0\u00a0 2\u00a0 125\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 175\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2\u00a0 -50<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Emmanuel Odah, the coach of FCT Hardrockers basketball club, has described the ongoing Mark \u2018D\u2019 Ball Men\u2019s Basketball Championship as \u201ca very tough competition\u201d. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Phase 1 Group 2 round of games in the three-month-long competition began on Sunday and will end on Saturday. \u201cThis championship is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":12650,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[644,3275],"class_list":["post-12634","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-basketball","tag-d-ball-mens-basketball-championship"],"yoast_head":"\n