The Kwara Falcons are back-to-back champions after defeating the Sprintex Knights Of Ghana 65-57 to seal the Louis Edem Foundation Invitation Basketball Championship Trophy.
Kwara Falcons won their third trophy in less than 8 months and recorded the first series back-to-back-to-back sweep in more than a decade. Kwara Falcons raced to a 14-5 lead in the first quarter with Simeon Eze Leading the chat. But the Falcons gave up the first 10 points of the second quarter, bringing back memories of a couple recent games in which they blew 15-point leads, but they steadied themselves quickly and led 27-18 heading into the break.
Point guard Tolani Buhari, now a three-time champion, said. “Nobody thought we’d be here,” the floor general said after the game, while fighting back tears. “It means the world.”
Falcons led by at least 9 points heading into the third, but the Sprintex Knights worried more about finding their feet. In fact, they didn’t allow the Falcons to settle in at all. Falcons shot efficiently in third, leading 46-35 after we saw two good defensive plays from Austin. “To me, the most important thing is playing as a team, there were very little up and downs,” Kwara Falcons Coach said. “We played at a consistently high level, and that’s what we keep aiming to do.”
The Falcons led in the fourth Quarter and never trailed. Tho the Ghanaian Knights closed within four points midway through the fourth quarter, but the Falcons responded with back to back free throws. Offensively, Falcons were just comfortable,” Tolani Buhari said. “There was a lot of things that had us in scramble situations, time and time again down the floor. We just really got the shots that we wanted and hopefully they fell for us.”