Basketball in Africa

Union Bank Basketball Club of Lagos on Saturday defeated their city rival, Comets, 76-43, in a ceremonial match played at the National Stadium, Lagos, to herald the 2012/2013 men's league season.
The match was jointly organised by the Nigerian Basketball Federation and the league sponsors, Multichoice Nigeria Plc.
Union Bank dominated the match right from the blast of the whistle and won each of the four quarters of the match.
Coach Johnson Ayinla of Union Bank said after the match that his team was just warming up for the league scheduled to start on April 26.
"Although, this is a warm up match, our best is yet to come. We are determined to put in our beast when the league starts. We played good today, but it was still below our standard. We have to do better than this if we are to win the championship. Comets did not pose any treat after the first quarter, perhaps they are yet to really blend as a team," he said.
Coach of Comets, Ayo Bakare, admitted that his team played below expectations in the match.
Bakare, however, assured that his team had talented young and old players who could outplay any team in the coming season.
"We approached the game well enough in the first quarter but later allowed Union Bank to dominate and seize control of the match. We allowed many unforced turnovers and lost several chances at scoring and totally lost grip of the game," he said.
Olumide Oyedeji, Nigerian International and captain of the senior national team, who watched the match, expressed happiness that the DSTV men's league had resumed.
"I am delighted the new season has resumed after eight months of no actions. This is where we groom our home-based players and also develop the quality of the game at home. I look forward to seeing these great athletes play," he said.
Oyedeji, currently with Tochigi Brex, a club in Japanese League, also expressed his desire to come back home soon to end his career.
NAN reports that actions will resume in the 2012/2013 league season on April 26 in three venues across the nation: Lagos, Port Harcourt and Abuja.