Hillside Elite, which had earlier beaten Warriors 7-3 in the semifinals, defeated NBT Academy 14-4 in the final match played at Jabi Shopping Mall on New Year eve to win the cash prize of N250,000.
Also, TVCC, which eliminated Connect 7-5 in the semifinal, bagged the cash prize of N250,000 after it narrowly edged Titans Academy 6-5 in the final.
It was no surprise that Mantis emerged the most Entertaining Team, while Chukwuebuka Henry Nzekwe of the Cliff Ballers added to the entertainment that characterized the event by winning the Slam Dunk contest.
This inaugural Abuja tournament featured 80 teams; 60 male 20 female basketball clubs, drawn from across the FCT. It was a continuation of the spectacular event that began at the 1004 Estate, Victoria Island, Lagos, in December.
The large entries in the men’s category meant all participating teams were classified into six groups, while the women were split into two groups.
The tournament sponsor, Opeyemi Babalola, who is the MD /CEO of Webber Engineering Nigeria Ltd., said the tournament was to engage basketball players within and around Abuja in the 3x 3 tournament and to end the year in a good mood with fun-filled activities.
“I am impressed with the skills of the players here and they have all come out with full force to play and I believe that the best team emerged the winner in both the female and male categories,” Babalola said.
While also applauding the large turnout of players for the tournament, the former Kwara Falcons and Dodan Warriors player said the sponsorship was Webber’s way of influencing young players positively by leading by examples and showing them the right path to follow.
He added that going forward Webber will spread its reach across Nigeria by promoting basketball at the grassroots.
“We plan to do other big cities across Nigeria and other locations and districts in Abuja as well. You will see us coming back. It is going to be a rotary thing and as soon as we get the required collaboration and sponsorships on board you will see us doing more of this on a weekly basis,” Babalola said.
