Nigeria’s representative in the ongoing 2024 Basketball Africa League (BAL), Rivers Hoopers BC, made history by reaching their first-ever semi-final at the tournament.
The Port-Harcourt-based club defeated former BAL Champions, US Monastir of Tunisia with a hard-fought 92-88 victory in the quarter-finals. Rivers Hoopers entered the quarter-final match following consecutive defeats to US Monastir in the final game of the Sahara Conference and AS Douanes (Senegal) during the classification round at the BAL Playoffs in Kigali, Rwanda. Meanwhile, US Monastir had the momentum of four straight wins.
However, it was the KingsMen, Rivers Hoopers, who started stronger, maintaining the lead until late in the opening quarter when US Monastir rallied to take a narrow one-point advantage, ending the first quarter 21-20 in favor of the Tunisians. Rivers Hoopers increased their intensity in the second quarter, going on a brilliant scoring run to end the quarter 25-19, giving them a five-point lead at halftime, with the score at 45-40 in their favor.
Before this quarter-final encounter, Rivers Hoopers and US Monastir had faced each other three times. US Monastir defeated Rivers Hoopers during the inaugural edition of the BAL, while both teams recorded one win each in this year’s Sahara Conference.
The third quarter highlighted the competitive nature of both teams as they fought for every possession, with Rivers Hoopers edging out their opponents 23-22 to take a six-point lead into the fourth quarter, with the scoreboard reading 68-62 in favor of the KingsMen.
In a tense fourth quarter, US Monastir outscored Rivers Hoopers by two points, 26-24, but the Hoopers held on for a nervy 92-88 victory. Will Perry, who played every second of the contest, was named the game’s top performer, scoring a game-high 33 points along with five rebounds, five assists, and four steals. Three players achieved double-doubles for Rivers Hoopers: Kelvin Amayo with 18 points and 10 assists, Peter Olisemeka with 18 points and 12 rebounds, and Devine Eke with 16 points and 12 rebounds.
This result marks Rivers Hoopers as the first Nigerian team to reach the semi-finals of Africa’s premier club basketball championship. The Next match for the Rivers Hoopers is a clash with Libya’s Al Ahly for a place in the championship game, scheduled for Wednesday, May 29, at the BK Arena in Kigali, Rwanda.
