(by Olusegun Ikuesan) africabasket.com
.......Usman crown MVP, Terry, Ikonshul also win
It was pay back time for the Atlantic conference at the 2010/2011 DStv Premier Basketball League All-Star Game as Savannah conference ran away with an 86-73 (24-19, 16-19, 23-17, 23-18) points victory at the Sports Hall of the National Stadium, Abuja on Saturday.
The Savannah conference coached by the duo of Coaches Sani Ahmed of Kano Pillars and Sani Turi of Kada Stars won three out of the four quarters to reclaim the All-Star Game title having lost by 82-93 points in the 2009/2010 season in kaduna.
Savannah conference and reigning DStv PBL most valuable player, Abubakar Usman led the floor with 32 points, 4 rebounds and two assists to retain the MVP tittle he won last year while his teammate Ibrahim Yusuf contributed 10 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists for the Savannah conference win of the night.
Mohammed Bukar led the Atlantic conference in scoring with 17 points with Azuoma Dike and Musa Usman contributing 14 and 11 points respectively.
The Three-Point shooting contest was won by Yelwa Hawks basketball club of Bauchi Combo-guard, Timothy Terry who scored 17 of the 25 balls within 60 seconds time allocated each of the contestants while Godwin Ikonshul of the Dodan Warriors basketball club displayed a rare skill with a superb dunk to win the Slam-Dunk contest with 48-point.
Managing Director of MultiChoice Nigeria, Joseph Hundah, praised the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) for making the ALL-STAR Weekend a permanent feature of the federation annual programme.
He reiterated the sponsor commitment to the continuous sponsorship and development of basketball in Nigeria.
The event was graced by top sports personalities with Dorector of Sport Development of the National Sports Commission, Al-Hassan Yakmut representing the NSC and the Sports Minister, Engineer Sani Ndanusa stood in for the Nigerian Olympic Committee (NOC) family among other dignitaries.