By Wale Joseph
It was a good day for teams from the Atlantic Conference yesterday as NBBF/DSTV Premier League Top 8 for Men Dunked Off at the Indoor Sports Hall, National Stadium, Surulere.
Last season’s runner-up, Union Bank Basketball Club of Lagos lost 86-98 to the defending champion and Savannah Conference regular season leader, Kano Pillars Basketball Club.
Apart from Union bank, other clubs from the Atlantic Conference won their games. Lagos Islanders Basketball Club beat Niger Potters Basketball Club of Niger by 70-60 points. Plateau Peaks also from Savannah Conference, were defeated 81-76 points by Dodan Warriors.
Royal Hoopers of Port Harcourt also stopped Kadda Stars of Kaduna by 8 points winning 79-71 points.
Pillars, coached by Nigeria’s D’Tigers Assistant Coach, Sanni Ahmed went up in the first and second quarters 25-17 and 22-21 points. They went into the break with a 47-38 points lead.
Union Bank tried to stage a big come-back into the game at resumption of play in the third quarter, but only had a slim 24-23 points win as Pillars stood tall.
Spurred on by the duo of Abubakar Usman 36 points, 8 assists and 3 steals and Stanley Gumut 26 points, 6 steals, 4 rebounds and 3 assists, Pillars gave the fans that defied the heavy rain to catch a glimpse of basketball action in the play-offs.
Pillars punished their opponents further with a 28-24 points in the last quarter, to get a cumulative scoreline of 98-86 points.