Basketball in Africa

Wallidan are still at the forefront of the 2013 basketball league by maintaining their position as the hottest team winning all their games.
They defeated Saints by 51 points to 30 in their weekend game.
YMCA beat GAF by 35 to 27 points last Friday.
In another encounter, Serrekunda West defeated Serrekunda East by 59 to 35 points in their Saturday game.
2013 LEAGUE TABLE WEEK 5
TEAM GAMES PLAYED WON LOSS POINTS
BRIKAMA 3 2 1 6
GAMBIA ARMED FORCES 2 1 1 3
LAMIN 3 0 3 0
SAINTS 4 0 4 0
SERREKUNDA EAST 4 2 2 6
SERREKUNDA WEST 4 2 2 6
SPORTS HOUSE 4 1 3 3
WALLIDAN 5 5 0 15
YMCA 3 3 0 9

MALEZI School were crowned Lang'ata District basketball champions after beating Sunshine 52-26 in the finals at the Amref ground over the weekend.
The game was electric from the onset with both teams going head to head for the title and the opportunity to represent their district at the County level. Sunshine Academy raced away 4-0 against the favourites Malezi High School.
However, their lead didn't last for long as Lalezi changed tact with the introduction of Churchill Otieno. With the threat contained, Malezi team took back the momentum and erupted to take the lead. Going on a 13-point run, the Malezi boys ended the half 24-11, with rejuvenated confidence and focus. In the second half the Malezi stole the show, with John Madol taking charge. The team rallied behind their new found leader, overcoming the loss of injured captain Zack Okong'o, and finished the game in style.

NATIONAL champions Co-operative Bank of Kenya open their 2013 Premier League campaign against Thunder at the Nyayo Stadium gymnasium on March 23.
According to the fixtures released yesterday by the Kenya Basketball Federation (KBF) competitions secretary, Joseph Amoko, a total of 11 matches are on card with the bankers game forming the main highlight of the opening weekend.
On the same day, Mennonites face off against Blazers who barely survived the axe while the women match of the day will see Co-op Bank side confront the self-sponsored Safe Spaces. Mennonites have a date with newly promoted Kenya College of Accountancy (KCA).
Kenya Airports Authority (KAA), who briefly thought they had moved to the top tier after Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) announced they had withdrawn their sponsorship of Lions only for the pioneer club to bounce back as a self supporting team, Play Little Prince.
On Sunday, United States International University (USIU) "Tigers" who stunned all by losing to Co-op in the finals start their programme with a match against promoted Nakuru Club who are back in the top tier after a brief stint at the lower division
Lions, who are four times league winners, will start life as a self supporting since their inception in the 19080's as they face off against Division One champions Nairobi Aviation College (NAC) who are making their debut at the top level.
Nairobi Basketball Association (NBA) champions Equity Bank tackle Trailblazers where they hope to make an immediate impact while Parklands Baptists have a date with relegated KCA who should pose all sorts of problems.
Amoko said this time round, the league will get off early to avoid dragging up till mid December as has been the case for the last few years. He said that the pre-season tournament, that will be used to gauge the teams, will take place a week before the league

The Nigeria Basketball Federation says plans are underway to raise the number of teams taking part in the country's elite woimen basketball league from the current 10 team format.
President of the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) Mallam Tijani Umar, who disclosed this in a telephone interview with Daily Trust, said additional 5 teams to make the teams 15 or 16 this season.
He said the idea is to add bite, make it robust and add colour and glamour go the basketball league.
Umar noted that, unlike in the past yeasrs, when winners are almost predicable, the addition would make hostilities interesting, adding that there will be no more relegation or teams playing in round robin format. Eight teams will drop while 8 will qualify for the final play offs.
He also revealed that plans in place to see both the Dstv and Zenith leagues experience innovations that will give them a lift.
The new season for the men and women's leagues, according to him will start next month March after the NBBF and their major partners Multichoice Nigeria Ltd and Zenith Bank, PLC endorsed the commencement of the 2012/2013 Dstv Premier League for men to start on Saturday March 9, 2013 and Zenith Bank Women's League for March 21 respectively.
The DStv League to take place in the Indoor Hall of the National Stadium, Lagos will see games being played simultaneously same day in other venues across the Atlantic and Savannah conferences. The DStv League welcomes back returnees, Plateau Peaks and new-comers Mark Mentors who are replacing Tapgun Rockets in the Savannah Conference while debutants Oluyole Warriors will taste premiership action in the Atlantic conference. The Indoor Hall, National Stadium, Abuja will host the commencement phase of the Zenith League for Women while a pre-season press briefing and cheque presentation ceremony will hold in the National Stadium, Lagos on March 28.

This season's national basketball league playoffs are set to start this weekend with four games to be played on Saturday and Sunday at Kimisagara Youth Centre, Rwanda Basketball Federation Secretary General has confirmed.
The regular season ended on Sunday with champions Espoir extending their unbeaten run to 16 games all season and will go into the playoffs as firm favourites against Kigali Basketball Club.
Two former winners APR and Circle Sportif de Kigali face off in the other semi-final and the winner will play either Espoir and KBC in the best of five final.
Espoir become the first team to win the regular season league title with an unbeaten record; they finished with 32 points, while APR came second with 29 points. CSK were third and KBC fourth.
On Sunday, Espoir beat Kigali Basketball Club 65-35, but the latter regrouped to thrash National University of Rwanda 65-29 in their second game of the day. Kigali Institute of Education lost at home to Rusizi 45-57 to finish the season bottom of the nine-team table standing.
Also on Sunday, APR beat National University of Rwanda and Rusizi 88-51 and 56-54, respectively, to secure the second place.

ZAMBIA has qualified for the 27th edition of the men's 2013 African Basketball Nations Championships (AfroBasket) championships slated for August in Ivory Coast despite losing the final Zone Six qualifiers to hosts Mozambique at the weekend.
The last time Zambia played at such a competition was back in 1989 at the finals hosted in Angola where the team finished second.
Zambia qualified for the finals by virtue of having reached the finals of the week-long championships held in Maputo that saw four countries taking part.
Botswana and the Seychelles were the two sides that took part after the withdrawal of other countries that include Malawi.
Other teams that have qualified include hosts Ivory Coast, champions Tunisia, 2011 runners-up Angola and Nigeria who finished third at the last edition.
Burkina Faso are Zone Three winners, Morocco and Algeria as Zone One and runner-up with Senegal and Cape Verde qualifying as Zone Two winners and runner-up respectively.
Central Africa Republic, Cameroun and Congo are from the Zone Four qualifiers. Egypt and Rwanda sailed through from the Zone Five qualifiers with Mozambique and Zambia making the 16 member teams to compete at the event that starts on August 21 in Abidjan.
Zambia Basketball Association (ZBA) technical director George Sikalumbi said in an interview yesterday that International Basketball Federation (FIBA) wrote to the association on Friday informing them of the development.
"Actually the final game against Mozambique was in some way a preparatory game for the FIBA finals to be held in Ivory Coast.
"I think we need to sit down and strategise how best to prepare our team for the championships," he said.
ZBA president Boniface Kambikambi has expressed happiness at the team's qualification to the AfroBasket championship.
The team was expected back home last night.

The Nigeria Basketball Federation is working towards a new robust basketball season. The plans in place according to the federation boss, Tijjani Umar is to see both the DStv and Zenith leagues experience innovations that will give them a lift.
The new season for the men and women's leagues will start next month March. The NBBF after an agreement between it and its major partners Multichoice Nigeria Ltd and Zenith Bank, PLC endorsed the commencement of the2012/2013 DStv Premier League for Men to start on Saturday March 9, 2013 and Zenith Bank Women's League for March 21 respectively.
Umar told LEADERSHIP SPORTS that the federation hopes to do something novel."The NBBF is planning to have something novel this season especially in the Zenith League slated for Abuja. We hope to have additional things on ground for a different experience. By our plans, Zenith League will be more robust. Zenith Bank's commitment in hosting the League is an indication they are happy with how the league and former resources were handled by us. Part of the innovation is that we are going to have additional 5 teams to make the teams 15 or 16 this season. This is to give it bite, make it more robust and add colour. Before now, winners are almost predicable but with this addition hostilities will be interesting. There will be no more relegation or teams playing in round robin format. Eight teams will drop while 8 will qualify for the final play offs. Arrival will be on the 21, technical meeting with clubs and officials on 22 while action commences on March 23 till April 6." He revealed.
The DStv League to take place in the Indoor Hall of the National Stadium, Lagos will see games being played simultaneously same day in other venues across the Atlantic and Savannah conferences. The DStv League welcomes back returnees, Plateau Peaks and new-comers Mark Mentors who are replacing Tapgun Rockets in the Savannah Conference while debutants Oluyole Warriors will taste premiership action in the Atlantic conference. The Indoor Hall, National Stadium, Abuja will host the commencement phase of the Zenith League for Women while a pre-season press briefing and cheque presentation ceremony will hold in the National Stadium, Lagos on Thursday March 28.

La saison 2013 2012/du Nigeria prévue pour ce week-end a été reporté à la première semaine de mars en raison de problèmes techniques.
Selon Tijani Umar, le président NBBF, toutes les zones d’ombres concernant la signature du contrat de sponsoring doivent être clarifiées avant le démarrage.

La Dstv Premier League (Championnat Hommes) débutera dès la première semaine du mois de mars, et le début tandis du championnat féminin (Zenith Bank) démarrera également dans ce mois.

Saturday
APR vs NUR
KBC vs ESPOIR
KIE vs Rusizi
Sunday
APR vs Rusizi
KBC vs NUR

Espoir will go into their final game of the regular season against Kigali Basketball Club today afternoon at Kimisagara Youth Centre courts hoping to finish with an unbeaten record.

The Nyamirambi-based outfit wrapped up the national basketball league title with a game to spare last weekend. It was their first title since 2004 but if they can see off the outgoing champions this afternoon, they will become the first team to go the entire season with an unbeaten record.
“I’m confident my team can beat KBC and end the season unbeaten, and that is our target. Generally, we have had an excellent season and the boys will take that into the final game of the (regular) season,” coach Jean Bahufite told Saturday Sport on Friday.
Espoir, who have struggled to compete with their big rivals APR, CSK and KBC in the last eight season, also won the Zone V championships last year in August in Kampala.
In other matches today, former champions APR take on the National University of Rwanda hoping to win and finish in second position, Kigali Institute of Education host Rusizi.
Meanwhile, the Playoffs which bring together the top four teams in the league are scheduled to start on the weekend of March 2 and 3, by then the four teams would have been known.

With a second defeat in three games, the Seychelles men’s basketball team have finished third in the four-team standings of the ongoing zone 6 qualifiers for the 27th men’s African Basketball Nations Championship (AfroBasket) 2013.
On Wednesday night in Maputo, Seychelles lost by a 32-point margin – 39-71 – against hosts Mozambique to finish the league phase with just one win and two defeats in three games.
The team’s only win came against Botswana on a 71-68 score in their second game after they were beaten 52-76 by Zambia in their opening game on Monday.
In today’s semifinal, Seychelles will be looking to avenge the league loss to Zambia to earn a place in tomorrow’s final.
Zambia finished second in the standings after thumping winless Botswana 86-40 in their third match on Wednesday.
Today’s other semifinal is between group winners Mozambique and Botswana, whom they pummeled 105-19 on the opening day of the tournament.
The two losing semifinalists will meet in the third place play-off match tomorrow and the final between the winners of the two last-four encounters is also scheduled for tomorrow.

The winners of the tournament will qualify for the Afro-Basket 2013 in Abidjan, Ivory Coast from August 20-31.

G. G

Wallidan have maintained their position at the top of the table in this year's Basketball League.
They pushed further by beating Sport House by 56 points to 52 at a game played at the Brikama Basketball Lawn.
Wallidan are leading with 12 points after winning all their four games.
In the other encounter, Brikama defeated Saints 28 to 21 points.
Earlier on Friday, YMCA beat Serrekunda West 35-28 points at the Independence Stadium in Bakau. YMCA's victory has made them second with 9 points.
The other game was successful for Serrekunda East, who thrashed Lamin 47 to 33 points.

The National basketball league champions, Espoir have signed 17-year-old Steven Hatumintwari and Herve Kayitana, 18 from Petit Seminaire de Karubanda.
Confirming the duo's acquisition, Coach Jean Bahufite said, the signings highlight the club's vision of giving chance to the young players.
According to Bahufite, Hatumintwari and Kayitana, will be getting experience from the clubs veterans who include; Bievenu Ngandu, Aristide Mugabe and Kami Kabange.
"We will field young players and experienced players which will help the team in future and in upcoming years they will be able to compete at the highest level".
"It's important to strengthen our team in preparation for the title next year, they are good players and signing them is good but they still have to work hard and the fans should give them time"
"They will be good for the future; it would help us in the playoffs and upcoming season".
Unbeaten Espoir celebrated their fourth national basketball league regular season title after trouncing 30-Plus 133-30.
The Nyamirambo-based outfit won all their 15 league games to remain the only unbeaten team this season, and they could make 16 straight wins, a record for any Rwandan league champions if they win their last game against last year's champions KBC on Saturday.
It has been a long nine years of waiting for the league title for one of the country's oldest club.

Windhoek — Speaking to New Era Sports strictly on condition of anonymity, a disgruntled member of the Namibia Basketball Federation (NBF) expressed dismay over what he described as the sloppy manner in which the NBF is administered, including its financial affairs, which are said to be in shambles.
The aggrieved member pulled no punches lambasting officials at the helm of the NBF for allegedly failing to provide updated financial reports and bank statements at the recently concluded Extraordinary Congress of the NBF held in Otjiwarongo last Saturday, adding that congress attendants merely received verbal accounts on how monies were spent.
George Simataa from the Caprivi Region was elected as the new NBF president, while Andrew Masongo, who was also the acting president of the NBF following the hasty departure of Kerii Tjitendero, retained the position of vice-president. Petrie Kamatoto from the Erongo Region was elected as the new treasurer.
The aggrieved member also informed New Era Sports that a few delegates from various regions were not entirely happy with the NBF constitution, claiming that it is riddled with too many loopholes. Moreover, they claim that the existing constitution does not cover all aspects of the game and are now demanding its proper review.
Meanwhile, financial challenges within the regions and the absence of development programmes were also among the issues considered to be hampering progress within the basketball fraternity.
The NBF has also come under a heavy barrage of criticism for apparently turning a blind eye to qualified national coaches the NBF sent to training workshops last year. The coaches obtained International Basketball Federation (FIBA) Level-1 coaching diplomas, but have had no single opportunity to coach.
People with intimate knowledge of the inner doings at the troubled federation acknowledged the ongoing administrative shenanigans that have bedeviled domestic basketball for quite a while, but were reluctant to say it out loud.

SHEFFIELD (Júlio Chitunda’s African Message) - Mozambique's men’s team is under serious scrutiny this week.
If they are to keep their run of regular appearances at the Afrobasket, they need to pass this week’s Africa zone 6 qualifier test in the country’s capital city of Maputo.
The seven-day tournament began on Sunday and runs through until Saturday 23 February.
In the same period, Maputo will host the women’s qualifier, although Mozambique women’s team is not taking part as they will host the 2013 Afrobasket in September.
Theoretically, Mozambique's men are favourite to win the tournament, but the rapid rising Zambia could certainly cause hitches along the way.
Mozambique’s opposition includes Zimbabwe and Botswana, two teams eager to make their first appearance in Africa’s flagship tournament in three decades.
It is not clear whether Mozambique's traditional regional rival of South Africa are taking part in the tournament, although Mozambique’s head coach Milagre Macome rates it as a serious threat.
"South Africa has caused us some troubles in the past, but any of these teams have improved in the recent years," he said.
Mozambique men’s team has not missed an Afrobasket since 1997, although they register a modest record in the tournament's history, which does not mean that the likes of Fernando Mandlate, Custodio Muchate and Octavio Magolico are not capable of doing better.
In fact, David Canivete and Augusto Matos represent the new generation of players tasked with turning things around. Although both first joined the men’s team at the 2009 Afrobasket, they became household names of the national team in recent years.
However, there is no evidence that the fact that most members of the national team ply their trade in the national league is the cause for their modest historic record.
What is evident, though, is a recurrent height problem.
At the 2011 16-team Afrobasket held in Madagascar, Mozambique’s men's team had an average height of 1.92m. Only Madagascar (1.89m) were shorter than them. Senegal (2.00m) were by far the tallest team.
"We have to think that it won’t be an easy tournament, and we won’t win easily," said coach Macome.
He recognised that they will have to work "very hard work and keep focused on the game".
"So we need to improve our counter-attack and three-point shooting. That’s how we’ll take on our opponents," he pointed out.
Although this week's tournament is for Africa zone 6, Seychelles, a zone 7 contender, are taking part for alleged administrative reasons.
The winner of this tournament secures direct qualification to Abidjan, Ivory Coast, the site of this summer’s Afrobasket. Two other teams from other groups may receive wild cards to take part in the continental championship.
While Mozambique's men have something to prove, the country's women’s team rules the game, especially following their recent continental success.
They played at last summer's FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Women in Turkey and, last October, national champions Grupo Desportivo de Maputo won the African Clubs Cup in Abidjan.
The women’s national team is currently 38th in the FIBA Women's Ranking (5th in Africa, but a serious candidate to win gold later this summer), while the men’s team ranks 65th in the world and 12th in Africa.
As for this week’s women’s event, Zimbabwe, Zambia, South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho and Namibia are expected to battle for a place and return to Maputo in September when the 2013 Afrobasket for women kicks off.
This tournament is a challenge to see whether Mozambique men’s can chase their female counterpart.
Júlio Chitunda FIBA

Unbeaten Espoir celebrated their fourth national basketball league regular season title after trouncing 30-Plus 133-30 on Sunday at the latter's home court at Kimisagara Youth Centre.
Bievunue Ngandu scored a game high 28 points and was ably supported by Aristide Mugabe, who has 25 points as the runaway champions won their first league title since 2004.
The Nyamirambo-based outfit won all their 15 league games to remain the only unbeaten team this season, and they could make 16 straight wins, a record for any Rwandan league champions if they win their last game against last year's champions KBC on Saturday.
It has been a long nine years of waiting for one of the country's oldest club and according to head coach Jean Bahufite, who was a player then, it's a dream come true for him and his players.
"I am extremely happy with how we have played this season. You can say we have been on a higher level than our rivals. All along, I was confident we would win the league, we started well and remain unbeaten with only one game left," the 34-year old Bahufite told Times Sport.
"We have been unstoppable this season and I'm hoping the team will transfer that form and winning mentality in the African Club Championship," said the soft-spoken coach.
He added, "Right from the start, our target was to try and finish the regular season unbeaten.
Which we are only one win away from achieving, but now that the title is in the bag, we can turn focus on playoffs."
In the last couple of years, Espoir, who were a major force in the 90s and early 2000s, have struggled to compete with the big teams APR, CSK and KBC, but after making a few good signings coming into this season everything seems to have fallen in place for them.
In August 2012, Espoir claimed the Zone 5 Club Championships held in Uganda after beating Urunani BBC of Burundi in the men's final.

National basketball league leaders Espoir BBC take on newcomers 30-Plus on Sunday at Kimisagara Youth Centre seeking to make it 15 straight wins.
The three-time winners are the only unbeaten team in the league this season and a win would push them closer to the title, the first since 2004.
Espoir head coach Jean Bahufite is confident that his team has one hand on the league title but has cautioned his players against complacency has nothing has been won yet.
"The players are hungry to win not only the game on Sunday but also the league, if we can achieve that with an unbeaten record that would make it even sweeter," the former Espoir player told Sunday Sport on Friday.
Bahufite added, "I have full confidence in my team to beat anyone in the league, so I hope we can stay at the top until the end. We had a brilliant start to the season and I hope the guys will keep up the winning spirit."
The Nyamirambo-based side lead the league standing with 28 points from 14 games, while their opponents 30-Plus are sixth on the eight-team table with 19 points albeit having played a game more than most teams.

L'édition 2013 des jeux Polytechniques a été jouée ce week-end à Accra.
L’équipe de Dodzie, championne en titre a conservé son titre chez les hommes en battant Accra Politechnique sur le score de 66-53.
Chez les filles, Accra Polytechnique a facilement battu Tamale Polytechnique sur le score de 53-3.

Two  national basketball teams were last night scheduled to leave the country for Maputo, Mozambique, to take part in the Afrobasket championships qualifiers. The championships will get underway tomorrow and end next week Saturday with six countries - Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Seychelles, Zambia, Zimbabwe and the hosts - competing in the men and women's categories.
The men's category will feature Botswana, Seychelles, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique while Zambia, Lesotho, Botswana and Zimbabwe will battle it out in the women's competition.
The men's team coach, Spencer Nyamadzawo, said they were hoping to qualify for the championship.
"The preparations have been going on well despite having been done at a short notice. We were in camp for five days and we would have wanted to train more than that for a tournament of such magnitude.
"I think we stand a great chance of qualifying for the championships. The good part of this (event) is that it comes when our season is on and some of our players have been playing together for the past six or seven years.
"We have got the likes of Taurai Chitsinde who is the captain, Neville Chivangire and Simbarashe Mugombezi teamed up with a couple of youngsters like Tawanda Nemutambwe and Tatenda Maturure.
"We are hoping all the 12 players will do well in the competition," said Nyamadzawo.
However, Nyamadzawo said their biggest threat will come from Mozambique since they are the hosts.
"Mozambique will be of threat to us on the basis that they are the hosts and will be playing in front of the home crowd.
"They have been to these Games before and the last time we played them, Zimbabwe lost by 12 points.
"We would want to go with that background that they beat us before and we want to beat them also," said Nyamadzawo.
Basketball Union of Zimbabwe president, Addison Chiware, said they were expecting both teams to do well but added that the women's team stands a better chance of progressing to the final event.
"There are five men and four women teams.
"The women's team has got the highest probability and for the men they are more or less at that same level but it's a bit tighter.
"We are lucky that it's one of those events that comes when we are in the season and in terms of the level of fitness we are okay.
"We are expecting, at least, the women to qualify," said Chiware.
The top team in each section will progress to the main tournament to be held later this year in Cote d'Ivoire.

Seychelles men’s national selection leaves the country today for Mozambique, where they will take part in the 27th African Basketball Nations Championship (AfroBasket) 2013 qualifier for zone 6.

It was decided by Fiba Africa that Seychelles men’s team, who won the Indian Ocean Island Games gold medal on home ground in 2011, will have to compete in the zone 6 after none of the other zone 7 countries – Mauritius, Madagascar, Comoros and Djibouti – showed an interest in taking part in the zone 7 qualifiers Seychelles was to host.
Other than Seychelles and hosts Mozambique, the other countries which will be taking part in the zone 6 qualifiers are Zimbabwe, Swaziland, Namibia, Zambia, Malawi, Lesotho, Botswana and South Africa.

The 2013 Afro Basket meeting will take place in August in Ivory Coast.
The players making the trip are Bernard Bristol, Alex Baron, Amadou Sylla, Neddy Fanchette, Arnaud Arrisol, Dominique Pillay, Pascal Bibi, Faizel Naiken, Keven Morel and Barry Dubignon.
In the absence of head coach Clifford Joubert, his assistant Tony Juliette will act as head coach and he will be assisted by Alix Allisop.
Georges François is the head of delegation. The team are expected back on March 25.

R. D.

Accra Polytechnic ladies are 99% odds on favourite to clinch the title after another masterstroke performance which saw them annihilate Takoradi Polytechnic 78-7 on Wednesday.
The ladies from the capital are simply on fire and unstoppable at the moment with breathtaking display that has left jaws dropping in the Western Region.
It was another display of maturity and sharpness as Mavis Martey, Afua Kobi Agyemang, Sarah Esinam Adukoph and Carlen Naa Adjeley Adjei put up a fantastic combination to ‘destroy’ their opponent in a one-sided contest.
The home supporters were left disappointed as they saw their team hammered in front of their own eyes.
It was a humiliating defeat suffered by the host and will need to do something about their sloppy defense.
Accra Poly will play whipping ladies and defending champions Tamale Poly but with 167 field goals, it looks almost impossible for any side to surpass them.
Victory over Tamale Poly will ensure they clinch the title after missing out to Tamale two years ago.

ST JOHN'S College boys basketball are taking no prisoners this season in which they are unbeaten in the matches they have played so far and have pledged to keep the momentum going in their remaining games.
During their first match of the season, St. John's beat arch-rivals St. Georges 64-51 in a tightly-contested match.
Their second victory was against Eaglesvale who they beat 51-33 in a one-sided affair.
The St. John's first team remain undefeated this season, it is a different story for their second team who registered a 10-10 draw against Eaglesvale in their second match after losing their opening game 21-19 to St Georges.
The most outstanding player for the season for St. John's first team since last month is Rukudzo Gona and the find of the season has been Mafaro Timba.

Late Pa Modou Sarr Memorial Basketball Tournament will start on Sunday17th February 2013, at the Serrekunda West Mini-Stadium Basketball Court.
Brikama, Sports House, YMCA, Lamin, Gambia Armed Forces Serrekunda East and West have so far registered for the annual basketball tournament in the memory of late Modou Sarr, who died in a car accident in the United States of America in 2004.
The recitation of the Holly Quran was done at his family residence last Saturday.

APR basketball coach Cliff Owour believes his team can finish in the top two in the league and qualify to represent Rwanda in the Zone V qualifiers.
The former champions boosted their hopes of pushing league leaders Espoir all the way to the last game in the race for the title with a 73-49 win over another former winners Circle Sportif de Kigali (CSK) on Sunday.
However, despite the win, the army side remain in second place with 25 points, three points behind leaders Espoir, who won their two games at the weekend.
APR's Lionel Hakizimana scored a game high 27 points and was ably supported by Pascal Nkurunziza, who added 18 points.
Leaders Espoir made it 14 straight league wins after thrashing Rusizi 108-69 and National University of Rwanda 97-61 on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
If Espioir win the league and APR finish in second position, both teams will represent the country in the Zone V Championships. Espoir are the defending champions.
"I am happy with our results, but I think Espoir's form will make it hard for any other team to win the league (title), they're unstoppable at the moment.
"However, if we continue winning our games, we have a good chance to finish in second place, which is enough for us to be Zone V qualifiers," Owour told Times Sport.
In contrast, Espoir coach Jean Bahufite remains confident about his team's chances of lifting the league title for the first time since 2005 when he was a player

Nobel Boungou Colo (CGO) Limoges

THE 2013 national basketball league will throw off on March 16.Joseph Amoko, the Kenya Basketball Federation fixtures secretary said the federation have decided the league start early to ensure it ends in good time.
He said he was busy drawing the fixtures for the first leg which should be out this week."We as a federation have decided to start the national league. For the last few years the league has dragged on until mid December giving our fans little time to enjoy their holidays. This time we want to avoid this." said Amoko.
The league will start without one of its founder teams KCB Lions whose sponsors Kenya Commercial Bank announced they would no longer sponsor their activities in the local scene. Lions were third in last year's premier league. In the absence of Lions, reigning league champions Co-operative Bank of Kenya, runner up United States International University (USIU) Tigers and former champions Ulinzi Warriors will be expected to be the teams to watch.
Amoko also revealed that Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) who were third in the lower division will replace Lions in the premier league. The other promoted sides are Nairobi Aviation Club (NAC) and Nakuru Club. At the same time, Zetech College will join Equity Bank, Strathmore University and Little Prince in Division One following their promotion from the Nairobi Basketball Association (NBA) provincial league.

Ranger v Buffalos (D) Double Forfeit
Rovers 77-26 Lialuma (A)
Rovers 35-26 LUCT (L)
... KTA 59-31 Buffalos (A)
Mafokotsane 18-84 Rovers (A)
BBH 41-36 Rovers (D)
KTA 55-34 Lialuma (A)

Right from the Wandegeya police station all the way up to Buganda road at the Multichoice offices, cars stretched on either side of the road.
In the middle of the road was a nonstop flow of pedestrians, some superbly dressed, others would give clowns a run for their money; they had so many colours you would think they were moving Christmas trees. If someone didn't know what the occasion was, the commotion outside YMCA grounds would definitely get them curious.
It was the second weekend of the annual Friday Night Lights fun basketball tournament. The fun tournament that kicked off three years ago as a season curtain raiser has become the best league opener in any sport on the Ugandan calendar. Kampalans love to party and drink and the organizers of the tournament - Castle Lite beer are really exploiting that to the fullest.
On Friday February 1, the night had performances from Ruyonga, The Mith, and Eddy Kenzo, plus a flash mob performance courtesy of Samsung. Last Friday, they gave the fans a shocker; Samsung offered a 52-inch plasma screen for any fan that could make a half court centre shot. Unfortunately no one could walk away with it. The screen will be returned next Friday, along with a home theatre system for anyone who can make a free throw shot while blind folded.
As the teams - Legends, Flash, Malinga, Ikong, Kasewu and Kobs - battled for the Shs 500,000 each, Navio treated fans to his latest hits, as the rest of the crowd partied away to the deejay's tunes. Organizers have promised to have a surprise politician taking part next Friday.

The President, Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF), Tijani Umar, on Friday said that the Men's DSTV Basketball and Zenith Bank Women Basketball leagues would dunk off tentatively on Feb. 25.
Umar told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that the competitions had been modified to make them more competitive and cater adequately for the players' welfare.
He told NAN on telephone that logistics were being put together by the sponsors and stakeholders for the leagues to resume.
"We have sent our proposals on financing of the leagues and other competitions that will come up this season to our sponsors to look into.
"They have signified their continued partnership with us," Umar said.
According to Umar, the coming season will experience modifications in the competitions to bring development and make the leagues more competitive and attractive.
"We have made some changes to enhance the quality of the games and a considerable limit of transfer fees will be allowed for the clubs and players.
"We are keen on this because it will put a check on players moving from one club to another looking for better wages.
"With this, clubs can keep their home grown talents and nurture them to achieve their desired objectives," he said.
He disclosed that the end of season playoffs had also been modified to accommodate more games to make it more competitive.
"We are changing from the regular eight teams that played each other in the season playoffs.
"What we will have now is four teams from the Savannah conference playing each other and also four from the Atlantic conference, with two teams emerging from each conference for the finals.
"It is the combination of these two teams from each of the conferences that will play in a new format called the 'Final Four'," Umar said.

After a week-long Annual General Meeting (AGM) and pre-season seminar which took place in Nigeria capital city of Abuja the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NNBF) has fixed late February as jump-ball date of the 2012/ 2013 league season sponsored by television giant DStv.
According to a reliable source within the Nigeria basketball ruling body in Abuja the February date was agreed upon by all the stakeholders present during the pre-season seminar and AGM.
The DStv Premier Basketball League is fashion after the National Basketball Association (NBA) of the United States of America on conference basis with the sixteen teams divided into two equal parts of eight teams in each of the two conferences – Atlantic and Savannah.

The Atlantic conference has defending champion Royal Hoopers basketball club of Port Harcourt, Dodan Warriors basketball club, Islanders basketball club, Comets basketball club, Police Baton basketball club and Customs basketball club all of Lagos and newly promoted Oluyole Warriors basketball club of Ibadan.

Savannah conference has former champion Kano Pillars basketball club, Nigeria Immigration basketball club of Kano, Kada Stars basketball club of Kaduna, Niger Potters basketball club of Minna, Plateau Peaks basketball club of Jos, Bauchi Nets basketball club, Yelwa Hawks basketball club of Bauchi and Mark Mentors basketball club of Abuja who acquire former Tapgun Rockets basketball club of Jos.

APR Basketball Club head coach Cliff Owour has challenged his players to win the league game against Circle Sportif de Kigali on Sunday so as to boost their hopes of winning the title.
The battle of two former champions, who are separated by just one point will take place at the Kigali Institute of Education courts, and will be followed by the home side (KIE) taking on National University of Rwanda.
"We need to win the game if we're to be in contention for the title. CSK are doing well so it will be a difficult game for both teams but I really believe our chances," the former Kenyan international told Saturday Sport.
He added, "We are not far from the leading team (Espoir), actually they are just one point ahead. I am happy with our position on the table, and we know a win on Sunday will take us above them at the top."
Owour has led the army side to five league titles since 2005, with the last coming in 2010. The others came in 2006, 2008 and 2009.
He also guided the club to three Zone Five titles -2007 in Kigali, 2008 in Ethiopia and 2009 in Kampala as well as the Kenyatta Cup in Kisumu in 2009.
League table
Teams PD W L Pts
ESPOIR 12 12 0 24
APR 13 10 3 23
CSK 13 9 4 22
KIGALI 12 8 4 20
UGB 15 5 9 19
30 Plus 15 4 11 19
RUSIZI 12 5 7 17
KIE 13 3 10 16
UNR 11 2 9 13
Saturday
KIE vs CSK 10am
UGB vs KBC 12pm
Sunday
APR vs CSK 10am
KIE vs UNR 12pm

Seychelles will not host the zone 7 qualifiers for the 27th men’s African Basketball Nations Championship (AfroBasket) 2013 and will have to take part in the zone 6 qualifiers after not receiving automatic qualification as previously said.

Sports Nation learned of this new development yesterday and Seychelles Basketball Federation (SBF) chairperson Sheila Ah-kong confirmed that the country’s men’s team are preparing for the zone 6 qualifiers in Mozambique later this month – February 16-23.
Other than Seychelles and hosts Mozambique, the other countries which will be taking part in the zone 6 qualifiers are Zimbabwe, Swaziland, Namibia, Zambia, Malawi, Lesotho, Botswana and South Africa.
Angola, who have won the men’s Afro-Basket a record 10 times – in 1989, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2009 – form part of zone 6 but will not take part in the qualifiers after receiving automatic qualification for finishing as losing finalists at the last competition in Madagascar in 2011.
Other teams who have already qualified for the AfroBasket final stage in Ivory Coast are Ivory Coast (hosts), Tunisia (defending champions), Nigeria (All-Africa Games winners in 2011 and third place finishers in the AfroBasket in 2011), Burkina Faso (zone 3 winners), Morocco (zone 1 winners), Algeria (zone 1 runners-up), Senegal (zone 2 winners), Cape Verde (zone 2 runners-up), Central African Republic (zone 4 winners), Cameroon (zone 4 runners-up), Congo (zone 4 third place) and Egypt (zone 5 winners).
The three other spots are to be filled by the zone 6 winners and runners-up, and the zone 7 winners.
But according to latest development, only one team will qualify for zone 6 and it is not clear who will fill the other two spots.
In a new development yesterday, the SBF was informed that there will still be only one place for zone 6 and the place of zone 7 will be a second wild card.
SBF head Ah-kong said the Seychelles men’s team, who won the Indian Ocean Island Games gold medal on home ground in 2011, will have to compete in the zone 6 qualifiers as instructed by Fiba Africa after none of the other zone 7 countries – Mauritius, Madagascar, Comoros and Djibouti – showed an interest in taking part in the zone 7 qualifiers Seychelles was to host.
And in past interviews with this paper, SBF representatives had said that if no teams enroll for the qualifiers, Seychelles will finish as automatic group winners and will represent the zone 7 region at the 2013 AfroBasket tourney.
But the situation has now changed and the men’s team have to play the zone 6 qualifiers.
In the event of the country’s men’s team not qualifying for the final stage in Ivory Coast, the SBF can still make a formal claim to Fiba Africa to be the legal representatives of the zone 7 as it is not Seychelles’ fault if other countries in the region do not want to compete in the qualifiers.
In fact, Seychelles was twice asked to move the dates of the zone 7 qualifying tournament. Initially scheduled for December last year, the tournament was postponed, at the request of the Fiba Africa executive committee, because of the final round of the Champions Cup which was being held around the same period in the Equatorial Guinea. The tournament was then moved to January 28 – February 2 and once again the local organisers were asked by Fiba Africa to push it to a later date as it was to clash with the Fiba Africa central board committee meeting.
The Fiba Africa executive committee awarded the organisation of AfroBasket 2013 to the Ivory Coast who overcame bids from Rwanda and Tunisia following a six-month bidding process.
Ivory Coast previously hosted the Championship in 1985. That year, the hosts beat African powerhouse Angola in the final to secure the second of their two AfroBasket gold medals to date.

Two venues will be use for the games – a 3,000-seater Palais des Sports of Treichville and in a newly built 8,000 arena – between the 16 teams.

All Banjul games in the National Basketball league for this weekend scheduled to be played at night at the Manneh Sillah Lawn will now take place in the afternoon.
The games affected are the first game between GAF against Saints with that of Serrekunda West and Wallidan.
The first game, initially scheduled for 8pm, is expected to be played at 4pm.
The second game will be between Serrekunda West and Wallidan in Banjul at 5pm.
The teams scheduled to play have been duly informed of this development, according to the Secretary General, Abdoulie Jallow.

Omar Oraby (EGY) 2009 FIBA U19 World Championship for Men (Germany)

2013 Inner City Super League..Week 1 Results..

UJ Alumni 84 - 45 OUTsurance
Randburg Rhinos 50 - 75 Jozi Nuggets
Mandeville Dragons 85 - 89 Braamfontein Blues
... Software Arkitex 57 - 87 Egoli Magic
Goodfellas 72 - 68 Soldiers Basketball
Team Phoenix 64 - 95 MBB

Serrekunda East will tomorrow Friday 7 February play against Sport House in the 2013 basketball league at the Serrekunda West at 4pm.
Serrekunda East lost in their previous game, they were beaten 19-63 points by YMCA at the independent stadium in Bakau.
In the same day, Lamin will also challenge on YMCA at 5pm, this would be played immediately the first game ends at the Serrekunda West basketball lawn.
GAF is also expected to play against Saints on Saturday at the Manneh Sillah basketball lawn in Banjul commencing at 8pm which would be followed by Serrekunda West taking on Walidan at 9pm at the same venue.
GAF however, won their first game played at the opening of the 2013 opening league by 23-16 points to Walidan. Brikama has got 83 points which is the highest points after consecutive victories in the two games played.

HARARE Basketball Association spokesperson, Carlos Munda, is confident the province's teams to take part in the inter-provincials championships in Gweru this weekend will excel. The championships are slated for Saturday and Sunday with all provinces expected to send their select teams.
This year's event is focusing on the seniors and the Basketball Union of Zimbabwe director of competition, Simon Lawson, urged provinces to send their top players.
The national association will use the event for the selection of national teams to take part in various international events lined-up for this year.
Last year, the championships were held in Mutare, featuring developmental teams, but for this year, emphasis is on the seniors.
Harare are the defending champions and Munda said they would be sending four teams, including two junior teams, to compete in the men and women's categories.
"We are sending two senior teams -- one men and one women and two developmental teams that is for the Under-22 age-group.
"The guys will be in camp full-time from Thursday but they are currently having training sessions and we will be leaving (for Gweru) on Friday.
"The national association's focus is correct because they will have a large pool of players for selection," said Munda.
Munda said they hope this year's event will be competitive and challenged other provinces to bring in their best teams.
"We would want to see a bit more competition and we want to urge other provinces to step up their competition so that they can give us a tough competition.
The championships are expected to feature 16 men and women's teams from eight provinces.

FORMER national basketball champions Matero Magic and their bitter rivals UNZA Pacers shared spoils at the weekend after both won one and lost a game as they squared off in the best-of-five Zambia Basketball Association (ZBA) National Championships play-offs finals.
In the first game of the play-offs played on Saturday, Magic looked to be in the title-winning mood beating the Pacers 52-48 to take a 1-0 lead in games played at the National Sports Development Centre (NASDEC) in Lusaka.
But tables turned in the second game on Sunday as the UNZA students turned on the style and completely outran the Matero side bashing them 55-41 to level the series at 1-1.
The two sides go to battle again this weekend playing on Saturday and Sunday in game three and game four to decide whether the title destiny would need a game five as defending champions Heroes would be watching from the stands after being eliminated early.
As Pacers and Magic were just starting their men play-offs, the women opted to take the battle to game five after defending champions UNZA Honeys were shocked by the fighting spirit of rivals Shells, who flattened a 2-0 deficit to level the series at 2-2.
Going into the weekend needing to win both matches, Shells duly delivered, winning the third game 58-43 to reduce arrears to 2-1 lead and then added more spice to the play-offs by edging the Honeys 49-47 to level the series at 2-2.
The amazing fight back from the Shells have just given the deciding fifth game all the pre-match excitement it needs to make this Saturday's game a spectacle.

APR Basketball Club won their two second round national league games at the weekend to close the gap to within one point of the leaders Espoir, who were not in action.
The former champions thrashed Kigali Institute of Education 86-52 on Sunday a day after they had seen off 30+ 73-43. The army team is now one point behind the leaders Espoir, who have 24 points.
In other matches, National University of Rwanda lost to United Generation 49-60, Rusizi was beaten at home to Cercle Sportif de Kigali 47-57. United Generation Basketball lost their would-be encounter with Rusizi through forfeit (20-0) after the former failed to turn up for the game in Rusizi.
League leaders Espoir and reigning champions Kigali Basketball Club were not in action at the weekend. The league will continue next weekend.
After finishing on top in the first round with an unbeaten record, Espoir are continuing to lead the league but with APR closing the gap to just a point, it leaves the race for the title wide open.
Other former champions Circle Sportif de Kigali are in third place, with 22pts, while holders Kigali Basketball club are in fourth position with 20pts.
United Generation Basketball and 30+ are in fifth position with 19pts each, Rusizi in seventh position with 17pts, Kigali Institute of Education with 16pts in 8th position, while National University of Rwanda lie bottom with 13pts.

THE 15th edition of East and Central Africa Inter Cities Championships will now be held in Kampala, Uganda, officials revealed yesterday.
The event, which was earlier slated for Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania in March has now been moved due to logistics and will now be played from April 29 to may 4 at the YMCA Wandegeya courts. Ronnie Owino, the Inter Cities secretary, who attended the Fiba Africa Zone Five Club Championships in Tanzania last week, said they had agreed that Kampala, who were host last year, be given a chance to host the tournament again.
Nairobi women and Mombasa men are the defending champions. Owino also confirmed that Sudan will bring three cities for six-day tournament, which brings together teams from Kenya, Tanzania, Somalia, Ethiopia and Eritrea. Owino, who is also the Nairobi Basketball Association (NBA) chairman said that his organisation will start looking for funds to take both the men and women's teams to the event.