Pius Ayinor
MFM and Customs played what can be described as the most thrilling match of the competition so far in the NBBF/Zenith Bank Women’s League playoffs, and the result was 64-61 in favour of the MFM ladies, but either side could have won this dramatic game.
The win means MFM will face the Elephant Girls (First Bank) in the final game of the series. First Bank defeated Aso Sky Queens 61-57 in the first semi-final match on Friday, played at the Sports Hall of the National Stadium.
The two Atlantic Conference teams in the final of the 2026 Final-8 Playoffs will step on the court from 3pm on Saturday after the third-place decider between As Queens and the Customs.
Nine-time champions of the Nigeria Basketball Federation League, First Bank will be hoping to secure their 10th title against the MFM prayer warriors seeking their third title.
In the last match of Friday, Nkem Akaraiwe distinguished herself as an African trophy winner with D’Tigress scoring 26 points for the Customs. She made 10/11 of her field goals and 6/9 from the free-throw line while grabbing 13 rebounds. Abigail Folorunsho scored 18 points for the Customs. Abigail Isaac shot 16 points to emerge the highest scorer for MFM.
MFM won the first quarter, but the Customs fought back in the second to cut it the gap to just a point. After the break, the Customs lady approached the game meaningfully and took over the lead into the last quarter, but poor shooting changed everything in the last four minutes.
The teams stayed on their toes until the buzzer, but MFM held on to their lead.
