BIO: Ekenechukwu Brian “Ekene” Ibekwe Ekene Ibekwe was born in Los Angeles, California (USA) and attended Carson High School in Carson, California. As a senior in 2002/03, he was a second-team Parade All-American after averaging 190.9 points, 10.2 rebounds, and 4.4 blocks per game in leading his squad to a 23-4 record and a semi-final finish in the Los Angeles city championship. He also earned all-state honours and a first team “All-Dream Team” nod by the Long Beach Press-Telegram as a senior, while he was named to the All-L.A. city first team, the All-South Bay first team and his team’s MVP as a junior and senior.

NBL EXPERIENCE

Ekene Ibekwe made his NBL debut with the New Zealand Breakers at 29 years of age. He scored 10 points in his first game.

After a dismal season the year prior, where the team missed out on the NBL playoffs despite having won the previous three seasons in a row, the Breakers regrouped by replacing imports Kerron Johnson and Gary Wilkinson with big man Ekene Ibekwe and fan favourite Cedric Jackson, who had led the team to back-to-back titles previously (2012, 2013).

This season saw the exits of CJ Bruton (retired) and Daryl Corletto (to Melbourne) and replaced with Rhys Carter (via Adelaide) and Tai Wesley, who qualified as a local player due to being born in Guam under the league’s Asian player rule.

The Breakers kickstarted the season with back-to-back wins over Perth and Adelaide before suffering back-to-back losses to Cairns and Melbourne. In what was a highly competitive season, New Zealand was able to reel off multiple five game winning streaks behind the offensive talent of both Jackson (14.9 points, 5.8 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 2.2 steals) and Corey Webster (15.3 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.7 assists), who moved into the starting lineup and become one of the league’s premier scorers, while Ibekwe added 11.8 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 0.9 assists. The Breakers battled all season long for top spot alongside Perth and Cairns, eventually finishing in second place (19–9).

in the semifinals, New Zealand would face third-placed Adelaide, who had won their final ten regular season games and entered the playoffs as the hottest team in the competition. Despite the 36ers’ hot form, the Breakers made light work of them in game one (111–82), with Webster (24 points) delivering a career-high scoring effort at Vector Arena. Game two then moved to Adelaide, where they again had the upper hand the entire game, defeating the 36ers (94–83) and moving on to the Grand Final.

There, they met the Cairns Taipans, who had become the first regional centre team to win the minor premiership since the Geelong Cats did so in 1984. Despite Cairns having home-court advantage, New Zealand easily claimed game one (86–71), with Jackson (22 points) top scoring. Game two shifted to Auckland, where after a tight contest the entire game, Taipans guard Scottie Wilbekin tied the game behind two free throws with 1.2 seconds left in regulation. Coming out of a timeout, Ibekwe caught a inbounds pass, turned and hit a game-winning fade-away shot to lift the Breakers over the Taipans (83–81) and clinch New Zealand’s fourth title in five seasons. Jackson was subsequently named Grand Final MVP for the second time in his career after adding to his 22 points in game one with 15 points in game two. Jackson claimed his third championship and second Grand Final MVP award, becoming the first player in NBL history to win three NBL championships from his first three seasons.

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Ekene Ibekwe played one season in the NBL. He averaged 11.7 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 0.9 assists in 32 NBL games.

CAREER RANKINGS:
– 26th in blocks per game.

Dan Boyce (832 Posts)

Dan Boyce is a die-hard Sydney Kings fan who grew up in Melbourne during the roaring 90's of Australian Basketball and spent far too much time collecting Futera NBL Basketball cards.