CBL: Warriors, City Stars aim to bounce back

Lagos Warriors and Lagos City Stars look to bounce back from their defeats as the Continental Basketball League continues in its classic form at the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Lagos. Dodan Warriors have lost their first two games with City Stars falling to Abidjan Raiders late on Saturday as the chances to make the Final-Four playoffs begin to look slippery, Extrasportsnigeria.com reports.

“We were the smaller team in size and so we should have taken more shots outside,” Elliot Lorenzo said just after they lost the CBL opening game to Yaoundé Giants, but we failed to do so.

“We had a lot of turnovers and paid dearly for it but be sure we’ll do much better as the competition continues.”

Warriors started with a 104-66 defeat to Yaoundé Giants on Friday before they were beaten 93-77 by Eko Kings on Saturday. City stars began their match against Abidjan Raiders very well with the game playing at a clutch until the last three minutes of the fourth quarter.

Doug Thomas, a power forward with the team explained what happened.

He said, “We were to play on Sunday but became a last minute replacement for Izobe who arrived in the country late. But in spite of that it was a very good game on both sides. Just a little more of defence would have helped us a lot got the loose balls and knocked down their shots especially in the last quarter.”

Eko Kings are billed to face Raiders Sunday night after the City Stars versus Libreville Izobe Dragons. Afrter the Monday rest Eko will file out against Warriors at 7pm on Tuesday.

The tournament which started on the 12th of May will end June 4. It tipped off with the Lagos Challenge, with teams going head-to-head against each other in one of the most anticipated basketball challenges ever in the history of Africa. Thereafter the teams will embark on a road trip to the capital of Cameroon, Yaoundé, for what has been tagged Yaoundé Challenge from May 22 to 24.

The best-of-the-best in basketball will hit the court on the 27th and 28th of May for the tournament’s All Star weekend, where your favourite Celebrities will play against Basketball veterans, and youth players ,three pointers will be flying, and the backboard may break during the Slam Dunk contest. This will hold in Lagos.

And it all comes down to the top 4 teams who will meet in Libreville, Gabon, 3rd and 4th of June for the Final-Four and Championship game.

The May Madness Tournament is not just about basketball, it’s more than a game as the best African entertainers also perform during half-time shows.