The basketball event of the 2020 National Sports Festival has continued to live up to its pre-competition hype despite Rivers State’s withdrawal at the last minute.
With five teams competing for honors, games were played in a round robin format to give all teams equal chances of fighting for the gold, silver and bronze medals on offer.
Gombe who fell to FCT who hosted the last edition of the festival held in 2018 came back stronger to erase all doubts with three wins so far and a last game against Lagos on Monday.
In their first game, Gombe led by Coach Abdulrahman Mohammed left nobody in doubt about their intention of going a step further than their 2018 achievement after defeating Kano state 66-59 points.
They followed in similar fashion defeating host-Edo 68-60 points as they followed up with another win against Kwara state, 76-56 points.
For Kano, they bounced back easily against Edo recording an emphatic 77-57pts victory before another 94-66pts win against hapless Kwara state.
Although it was a close game, Kano emerged victorious 89-86pts to record their third victory in four games.
Lagos defeated Kwara (103-52), Edo (75-60) and lost to Kano with a make or mar game against Gombe on the last day which will technically be the competition’s decider.
In the event that teams are tied on the same points at the end of the games, points differences will be adopted while head-to-head will be the last option to determine the top three teams.
Meanwhile, Lagos state will meet Bayelsa state in the final of the women’s event at 4pm on Monday, 12th of April at Emotan College, Wire Road, Benin.
