Bala is MVP as Raptors win OBN HOOP Summit Championship

U.S Consulate pledges continuous support for youth development Raptors Basketball Club, at the weekend, defeated Ebun Comets by 77 to 66 to win this year’s Organised Basketball Network Academy (OBN) Championship, tagged Hoop Summit.

The championship featured six teams, with Raptors earning N250, 000 as winners prize. For coming second, Ebun Comets earned N200, 000, while New Song got N150, 000 for the third position.

Raptors’ Love Baka was awarded the MVP of the championship, which also featured Vedione Voltage, OBN Elite and The Future Academy.

Speaking at the closing ceremony of the event, a representative of the United States Consulate in Nigeria, Jeanne Clark, said the U.S. Consulate is delighted to be part of the OBN Basketball development programme, adding: “It takes dedication, leadership, communication and team work to develop youths.

“These are the things that we need to encourage all of Nigerian youths and the United States is proud to be part of it. We view sports as a tool and it helps to develop many important skills that people have.

“We don’t want youths to be running around with their time; we want them to find purpose and sports is one of those purposes that contributes to the many skills that we have laid out at the American embassy,” he said .

Earlier, the founder/CEO of OBN Academy, Obinna Ekezie, said the OBN Summit was a success, as abundant talents were discovered in the weeklong event.

He commended the American embassy for their support at the event, saying, “the OBN Academy Hoop Summit, which assessed the level of growth and performance of the players in the academy, is successful.”

Ekezie said some of the talents discovered at the event would be given American university scholarships to continue their