Gombe, Lagos, Kano primed for medal finish in men’s
Lagos State has qualified for the final of the women’s basketball event of the National Sports Festival taking place in Benin after defeating host- Edo by 57 to 46 points on Saturday in the semi-final.
The team which narrowly lost to Kano in the opening group game came back strongly with a 72-26 points win over Nasarawa state in the second game of the competition.
Although the match was competitive at some point, it was Lagos who booked a guaranteed medal slot with the needed win.
In the second semi-final played on Saturday, Kano state suffered a surprise 66-62 pts loss to Bayelsa state in a tension-soaked tie. The latter thus set up a date with Lagos in Tuesday’s final.
With just 5 teams in the men’s category, the competition is being played in a round-robin format.
Gombe state is looking good for the gold medal with an unbeaten streak after winning all their three games against Kano (66-59 pts), Edo (68-60 pts), and Kwara (76-56 pts) states.
After winning two consecutive games so far against Kwara state and Edo which they won conveniently by 103-52pts and 75-60 pts in that order, Lagos will also finish in the medal zone despite having two more fascinating games against Kano and Gombe states to play in men’s category.
Edo and Kwara states are certain to finish in the fourth and fifth positions having garnered only three and no points respectively at the end of their four games each.
Lagos thrashed host, Edo 75-60 pts to earn their second win of the Edo 2020 National Sports Festival and they are currently second with better goals difference despite playing a game less than third-placed Kano state. They beat Kwara 94-66 pts to bag their second win from three matches.
Kano will end their group games today with a tough fixture against Lagos. Kano needs a win to keep the prospect of finishing with at least a silver medal intact but a loss to Lagos will see them ending the Sports Festival with a bronze medal.
In the fixtures slated for Sunday, Edo and Kano states will battle for the bronze medal in the women’s category.
The final games of the basketball event will take place on Tuesday, 12th of April, 2021 as Gombe and Lagos states face off in the men’s cadre to bring the basketball event to a grandstand finish.
