Team Kwara and Rivers Wednesday began their campaigns in the men’s basketball event of the ongoing Eko 2012 on a good note with victories over Imo and Bayelsa respectively.

Team Kwara, which is returning to the game after eight years absence, was in superb form against its Imo counterpart when the captain, Yusuf Najeemdeen, managed a 65-60 win, while the well contested encounter between Rivers and Bayelsa gave an insight into what to expect in the event.

Also, Bayelsa gave Rivers a good run for its money in the match watched by capacity crowd at the Rowe Park Sports Centre, but its efforts could not save it from losing 71-63 to Rivers.

Kaduna recorded the biggest win when the Governor Patrick Yakowa boys overran their northern brothers from Zamfara 64-44.

An elated Team Kwara skipper, Najeemdeen told The Guardian after the victory over Imo that it was not that difficult for them to beat the eastern team, stating: "This is just a tip of the iceberg because we are prepared for the tournament, having missed out in the last eight years.

"We were well motivated by the Kwara State Government and our preparation was superb, so we still have a lot to offer and we hope that gold will not elude us."

However, he admitted that Rivers and Bayelsa teams are strong sides following their beautiful display in their first match. He said: "We are not afraid of any team because I believe we are in good form for the festival. I commend Rivers for recording victory today and I look forward to meeting them."

Despite losing to Kaduna, Zamfara’s Bashiru Abdulrazak is confident that they could still progress to the next stage of the event, saying: "Losing today does not mean we are out of the competition.

"We can still make, we lost today because we lost concentration in the middle of the game, it was not that Kaduna are better than us."