Civil Defenders of Abuja reached the Elite 8 contest of the 2019 FIBA Africa Basketball League with a 62-58 win over Elan Sportif of Benin Republic.
The Defenders were able to curb their hosts on the offense with 39 defensive boards made, compared to 29 made by Elan, who could not take advantage of home support from their fans in Cotonou on Sunday.
Defenders then took a 10 point-lead going to the final quarter 60-50 which was later trimmed down to 4 after they were outscored by Elan 18-12.
Ocheibi Okpe, Ibe Agu and Umar Garba all combined for 43 points against the hosts, to book a ticket to The Defenders from the game.
Okpe had 16 points, 16 rebound double double, Garba added 14 points and five rebounds while Agu scored and six rebounds for Defenders.
Garba had another opportunity to stretch the lead with 12 seconds remaining after winning a foul but missed both free throws which was not well utilized by Elan who missed a three-pointer after the rebound.
It mean The Defenders emerged winners over Elan for the second time in their second meeting in front of their home crowd.
