NGR - Yelwa Hawks cut Bauchi Nets

BAUCHI (Premier League) – Yelwa Hawks over the weekend defeated city rivals Bauchi Nets by 65-60 in what is viewed as a local derby triumph for Yelwa Hawks.

"It was their day really; no doubts about that. They had a good game and won the match. I believe they are really putting their acts together now. Perhaps if they got organised from the start they would have steadied up by now," Lawan Garba of the Nets told to fiba.com.

It was a win highly celebrated by the Hawks fans who wanted to get free of the dominance of Bauchi Nets at the centre.

The Yelwa Hawks team are seen as a stronger team than their city rivals who came into existence more than a decade before the Hawks were born.

The Nets have qualified for some play offs from the Savannah Conference but have never made any real impact at such meets unlike the Hawks who shook the season in their very first outing finishing second behind Lagos Islanders.

A walk over for their late arrival cost them the trophy as they won every other game.

The Hawks owner Tanko Dutse Yusuf who was in the arena for ths game told to FIBA.com.

"It’s a good result and for us it is like winning a championship.

In a derby like this when your team is regarded as younger and not given desired respect you need to continue to win always in a match like this to make a statement like this," Tanko said.

The Nets played as hosts for this encounter but both teams will meet again on June 30th in the same hall with the Hawks as the home team. It will be the last regular season’s match in that hall and both teams and their fans will be eagerly waiting for the day to come.

By Pius Ayinor
FIBA