The maiden edition of the Southeast Basketball Invitational Championship tagged the “eastern league” climaxed over the weekend at the indoor sports hall of the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium amist heavy down pour, and former d’tigers point guard, Kelechi Anuna has hinted concerning the growth and development of the game in the region.
The 4-day competition which dunked off on the 8th of June 2022, was organized by the Southeast Basketball Association (SEBA) in collaboration with the enugu state ministry of youth and sports, had states like Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo in attendance and competing for the star prize.
Addressing the players from his base in Chihuahua, Mexico, Anuna who was a member of the 2017 siver-winnig Afrobasket team in Tunisia reiterated that both the active players and veterans in the diaspora whose origin are from the zone are committed in taking the game to the next level, reassuring that the crisis rocking the country’s federation will not deter their focus.
Reflecting on the two-year ban on the national teams from all international competitions, Osas Oriachi, an official in the competition expressed his displeasure over the decision by the federal government, advocating for a better resolution within the basketball community and all the relevant stakeholders in the country.
Sports correspondent, Ugo Okeiyi who monitored the final game which was filled with aggression, energy and exciting basketball skills on display as team Imo emerged as overall champion narrowly defeating the host state Enugu by 43-42. The visitor’s offensive and defensive play proved to difficult for the Coach Olu’s men, thereby giving the Imo team the early advantage to race into a 20-point lead in the 1st and 2nd quarter. The final quarter saw the enugu side coming back strongly, but it was rather too late as the opponent had to manage the lead to run down the clock.
In her words, Coach of Team Imo, Ogbonaya Chikadibia was happy with the performance of the team and also winning the competition in her debut as a coach, stating that she was tensed up all through the 4th quarter until the last few seconds of the game.
According to Ogbona Joseph Captain of Team Imo, it was not an easy ride because every team came prepared but at the end they scaled through and so they are excited about winning the first edition of the competition, and also applauding the organisers for putting up a competition of such magnitude.
