By; MOHAMMED ABDULLAHI in Dakar
Nigeria Premier Basketball League champions, Kwara Falcons gifted fellow Basketball Africa League (BAL) debutants, ABC Fighters of Cote D’Ivoire a last minute win in their 5th game at the ongoing BAL Sahara Conference in Dakar, Senegal.
At one minute, thirty seconds, Kwara Falcons led ABC Fighters by 7 point, then 76 – 69 points in favour of Falcons, but at full time, ABC won 79 – 76.
Although, the Falcons trailed ABC by 54 to 61 points in the third quarter, the Nigeria champions fought back in the last quarter to overturn the score until the last two minutes of the game.
Coach Baba Jibril of the Kwara Falcons could not hide his disappointment after the loss, but quick to admit the game could have been better managed during the closing minutes.
“I am very disappointed that we came close to registering our first win today but only to be defeated at the closing minutes. I can assure you that we will be back next year for a better performance,” Coach Jibril stated.
Five defeats for the Falcons meant the team is out of the BAL playoff finals scheduled to take place in Kigali, Rwanda between 21 – 27 May this year.
Recall in previous games, the Falcons lost to REG of Rwanda 48 to 64; another loss to Stade Malien of Mali by 74 to 78 points. The Falcons lost 75 – 85 to US Monastir of Tunisia and 68 – 75 to AS Douanes of Senegal.
