African Basketball League train returns from Abidjan

Pius Ayinor

The latest league on the continent of Africa, the African Basketball League, had its first road tour over the weekend since the competition began two months ago.

Ivory Coast’s commercial city, Abidjan, was host to four of the teams with four matches played on Friday and Saturday. The first road trip in the series had Adijan Ramblers, Stallions, Izobe Libreville and Lagos Islanders on the train.

In the first match of Friday night Izobe Libreville defeated Lagos Islanders 73-67 while Ramblers cut Stallions 60-52.

The Islanders coach who congratulated his opponents for the win said he could not rule out jetlag for the performance of his players.

He said, “I don’t want to tie the loss to tiredness but one could say so. As you could have seen we were leading all through until the last five minutes of the game.

 “But it was a lovely contest and I would prefer we see what happens with the next game before speaking further.”

The Libreville team had arrived in Abidjan much earlier than the other two teams from Lagos. On Saturday, Islanders compensated their fans by beating hosts Ramblers 84-72.

Stallions, who led Izobe through the third quarter, fell at the buzzer 71-66.

The two days in Abidjan showcased more than basketball as music stars and dancers spiced the nights. The Nigerian artistes were led by Sound Sultan. There were also Korra and Chidinma. Petit Denis and a host of other singers were in town.

The Chief Executive Officer of ABL Ugo Udezue said the road trip would continue through the cities of Libreville and Dakar.

“The games are not for Lagos and Abidjan alone; the tours will also cover Dakar and Libreville this summer,” he said.

The games will return to Abidjan in a fortnight with the Dodan Warriors and Dakar Rapids. But before then the league matches for the weekend will continue at Landmark Centre in Victoria Island, Lagos.

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