Mustapha Oyebanji scored 27 points, grabbed 6 assists and 3 rebounds
while Ikenna Okpaluba made a career-high of 25pts, 5 rebounds, 4
assists and blocked 3 shots to help Kwara Falcons pull away for a
85-73 victory over Civil Defenders on Thursday night.
The Ilorin side, coming off a back of two successive wins, used strong
offensive play which include a 9-0 spurt early in the first quarter to
pull clear of Defenders 50-29 at half time.
Defenders never recovered in a game they had four players pulled
double digits. Ndibe Emmanuel- 21pts, 6 rebounds and 4 steals, David
Garba – 15pts, 4 rebounds while the duo of Samson Bolarinwa (13) and
Mathias Iduh (10) combined for 23.
Falcons lead 70-55 early in the fourth quarter, then nearly gave it
all away as the Defenders closed to 79-71 with 4:43secs left before
Okpaluba made 2/2 from FT line to extend the lead.
David Godwin shot 87.5% from Free throws to add 15 points while
Captain Sheyi Ajileye, who had the most minutes on the court
(35:48secs), produced 8 steals out of his side (Falcons) 17.
Kwara Falcons head coach, Baba Jubril was delighted to stretch his
side record at the championship to 3-0, saying the game against
Defenders was expected to be difficult because of their experience and
gave assurance that his side will not relent in upcoming fixtures.
“Coming into the game, we know it will be very difficult but we are
prepared for moments like this and you could see they’ve got
experience as well”.
“We still have a couple of games left which we shall continue to
prosecute with the same energy and determination”. He said.
