Tag: Rivers Hoopers

Rivers Hoopers survived a late scare to beat Energie of Benin Republic 64-59 in their last Group B game of the Louis Edem Invitational Basketball Championship in Lagos.

Buchi Nwaiwu scored 12 points while Samuel Sani added 10 points for the KingsMen.

Hoopers scored five 3s and shot 12-of-14 from the free throw line, which was pivotal to their win.

The KingsMen, who held an 18-point lead at the end of the third quarter, struggled at both ends of the floor in the fourth.

Energie outscored the Nigerian champions 28-15 in the last quarter. The Beninese team knocked down four-threes in the last three minutes of the game.

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For a second consecutive game, Michael Daramola came through for the KingsMen as he scored back-to-back points (4) to stretch the lead to 11 (62-51) with 1:44 left.

An 8-2 run by Energie in the last few seconds reduced the deficit to 5 points.

Rivers Hoopers finished with a 4-0 in the group stage while Energie finished with a 2-2 mark.

Rivers Hoopers will play Spintex Knights in a repeat of last year’s semifinals while ASPAC will face Police Batons today.  The Ghanaian team defeated Hoopers in the last edition.

Rivers Hoopers are through to the semifinals of the Louis Edem Basketball Tournament after a 70-62 win over Police Batons in Lagos yesterday .

For a third consecutive edition, Rivers Hoopers will play in the last four of the competition.

Police Batons shot to a 13-8 lead in the opening quarter and took advantage of a poor offensive display by Hoopers.

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A brilliant second quarter by Hoopers took the lead to a double-digit lead (30-20) with 4:47 left in the first half.

Police Batons returned from the break with so much intensity and aggression as Hoopers had a two-minute scoreless run. They, however, stayed in a touching distance.

With 1:15 remaining, Police Batons cut the deficit to four points (64-60), but a spirited performance by Michael Daramola late in the game gave Hoopers the win. Daramola scored 6 points in the last 60 seconds of the game.

The KingsMen will face Energies of Benin Republic in their last group game today.

Rivers Hoopers are through to the semi-finals of the 2024 Nigeria Premier Basketball League Final Eight in Port Harcourt on Friday.

Kelvin Amayo continued from where he left off on Thursday as he came up with another resounding performance for the KingsMen.

Amayo scored 31 points, had 3 steals, and made 7/10 from behind the arc in 17 minutes.

Ifeanyi Koko and Abel Offia both contributed 11 points each in the game, while Peter Olisemeka had 11 rebounds.

Amayo scored 14 points in the first quarter to help Hoopers build a 19-point lead at the end of the first quarter, 28-9. 

Kwara Falcons recorded their lowest scoring of the game and were limited to just 4 points in the second quarter (4-22).

Read Also: Final Eight: Rivers Hoopers to face Gombe Bulls in opener 

Amayo, who was rested at the start of the fourth quarter, made way for the other members of the KingsMen to complete the remaining job.

Rivers Hoopers will play Nile University in their last group game this morning.

Results

Gombe Bulls 53-56 Nile University

police Batons 51-62 Hoops and Read

Gboko City Chiefs 71-75 Rivers Hoopers

Kwara Falcons 34-89 Rivers Hoopers

Today’s fixtures

Police Batons v Kano Pillars 10am

Gombe Bulls v Kwara Falcons 12pm

Hoops and Read v Gboko City Chiefs 2pm

Nile University v Rivers Hoopers 4pm

Rivers Hoopers Head Coach Ogoh Odaudu says his team is well prepared for their Nigeria Premier Basketball League (NPBL) Final Eight opener against Gombe Bulls.

Speaking before his team’s final training session on Wednesday evening, the Rivers Hoopers gaffer revealed that the KingsMen are excited to begin their title defense at the Final Eight in front of their home fans.

Odaudu said: “We’ve been working very hard, and we’re ready. Right from when we were announced as hosts, the mindset changed completely. The boys are very excited. Of course they want to play in front of their fans, and they know that this is their home; they play better when they’re at home. I tell you the spirit in the team is better than it was last year.”

Odaudu, however, stated that the defending champions will approach each game with the same level of seriousness, saying:”Basketball is not played on paper; basketball is played on the court. We’re going to approach each game with the level of seriousness that it deserves. There’s no small team or big team. We’ll simply go out there and do what we’re supposed to do; at the end of the day, we hope to do the things well.”

Read Also: Basketball League: Rivers Hoopers outclass Kwara Falcons

He insisted that the KingsMen will put up a performance that Rivers people and all fans of Rivers Hoopers would be proud of.

“They should come out en masse to cheer us as they’ve always done, and we, on our part, will try our best to make them proud. At the end of the tournament, everyone will be proud to have supported Rivers Hoopers,” he said.

The D’Tigers assistant coach also thanked the Rivers State government, which he said has continued to support the team in unbelievable ways.

The NPBL Final Eight begins at 12pm on Thursday, 14 November, when last year’s runners-up, Gboko City Chiefs, take on Police Batons, before Kwara Falcons square up against Nile University at  2pm. Hoops & Read vs. Kano Pillars comes up at 4pm, while the defending champions Rivers Hoopers take on Gombe Bulls at 6pm.

Defending champions Rivers Hoopers have been drawn in Group B of the 2024 Nigeria Premier Basketball League Final Eight to be played in Port Harcourt.

Hoopers were drawn with Gombe Bulls, Kwara Falcons, and Nile University Spartans. 

While last year’s runners-up City Chiefs will play Hoops and Read, Kwara Falcons, Police Batons, and Kano Pillars in Group A.

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Games will be played in a round-robin format, with each team playing other teams in its group (a total of 3 games for each team).

The teams placed first and second in each group will qualify for the semi-finals.

Rivers Hoopers will face Gombe Bulls in their first game on Thursday at 4 p.m.

Michael Okiki scored 22 points to help Rivers Hoopers defeat Kwara Falcons 104-46 on game day 6 of the Atlantic Conference in the 2024 Nigeria Premier Basketball League on Friday.

Okiki led four other Hoopers’ players on double digits; he scored 22 points, Abel Offia added 16, while Patrick Abah and Michael Daramola both shot 15 and 12 points, respectively.

Okiki scored 14 points, including four three-pointers, in the opening quarter for the KingsMen who raced quickly to an 18-12 lead.

Back-to-back threes by Offia in the second quarter took Hoopers to a 36-22 lead, which was further stretched to 20 points with two minutes left to play in the second quarter.

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 Hoopers took advantage of a five-minute scoreless run by Kwara Falcons in the third quarter, as they stretched the lead to 40 points with 5:56 remaining.

Okiki shot eight points in the third to extend the Rivers Hoopers lead to 80-31 going to the fourth.

With 1:27 left to play in the game, Toye Duro-Ladipo knocked down a trey, which took the Port Harcourt club to over 100 points (101-43).

For a second consecutive game this week, the KingsMen reached the 100 mark.

Daramola made it a back-to-back three for Hoopers from a turnover, leaving the Falcons in a sorry state.

Offia attributed their unbeaten run to good preparation.

Rivers Hoopers crushed Lagos Legends 102-46 to win their fifth consecutive game in the Atlantic Conference of the 2024 Nigeria Premier Basketball League in Benin on Thursday.

Abel Offia scored 23, Ifeanyi Koko scored 19, while Ikenna Okpaluba added 10 points.

Offia also made six three-pointers in a game they dominated all through with ease.

The Chief of Defence Staff Basketball Championship (CDS) MVP bagged six points in the first quarter to give Hoopers an early 24-5 lead. He later scored eight points, including back-to-back treys, to help the KingsMen go 51-23 up by halftime.

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Legends who played with a seven-man rotation found it difficult to run down the stretch with Hoopers.

With 40 seconds left to play, Offia knocked down a corner three as Rivers Hoopers reached their first 100-point game of the conference.

Rivers Hoopers Vice Captain, Buchi Nwaiwu, is elated that the team has started very well in their quest to defend their title.

”I feel great; it’s the start of great things happening for us this season. It’s a good way to start.”

”I feel very ecstatic about it, and we want to use the same energy for our remaining games. We are taking it 100, and till we leave Benin, we are not ready to rest on our oars. We have set the standard, and we hope to continue it. ”

Rivers Hoopers will play Kwara Falcons today at 2 p.m.

Defending champions Rivers Hoopers are through to the final eight of the 2024 Nigeria Premier Basketball League following yesterday’s  94-50 victory over Ebun Comets.

With four wins out of seven games, the 2024 BAL bronze winners made light work of the game against Comets to book their final eight spot.

Head coach Ogoh Odaudu used a 10-man rotation, with most of the starters resting for most part of the game.

Odaudu who is pleased to achieve their target of qualifying for the final eight, says it is not done yet.

”That was our target from the beginning. We are happy we have accomplished it, but we still have a long way to go because we are trying to get better, and we are happy we are in the final 8.”

The Rivers State Sports Commissioner Barr. Christopher Green pledged one million naira for each win in the league as a way of motivating the team.

”We will take each game as they come and win every game because there is an incentive for us for every game if we win, so we don’t want to throw away money like that,” Odaudu said.

Read Also: Rivers Hoopers begin title defence with victory

Five players scored double digits for the KingsMen in a game they dominated from start to finish.

Abel Offia led the way with 19 points; Michael Daramola and Ifeanyi Koko both scored 14 points apiece, while Michael Okiki and Patrick Abah scored 11 points each in the game.

Abah shot back to back threes to get Hoopers into a five-point lead in the opening quarter.

Hoopers extended the lead to 13 at the end of the first quarter, 26-13.Just like the opening quarter, Hoopers through Offia knocked down consecutive threes at the start of the second quarter.

The KingsMen took advantage of Comets’ six-minute scoreless run to take the lead to 38-15.

A 34-point deficit at the end of the third quarter was a mountain too high for the coach Ayodele Bakare-led Ebun Comets.

Hoopers outscored Comets 18-8 in the fourth to pick up their fourth straight win in the conference and also remain unbeaten in the league.

Rivers Hoopers will play their remaining three games against Lagos Legends today  as well as against Kwara Falcons, and Hoops and Read on Friday and Saturday, respectively.

Rivers Hoopers dismantled Police Batons 87-58 in their third game of the Atlantic Conference in the ongoing Nigeria Premier Basketball League in Benin on Tuesday.

Abel Offia, Patrick Abah, and Michael Daramola all combined for 44 points against Police Batons.

The opening quarter started slowly for both teams, as Hoopers could only manage an 8-7 lead in the first 8 minutes of the game.

With 2:52 minutes remaining in the first quarter, Buchi Nwaiwu scored four points (15-12) to stretch the lead to three going into the second quarter.

Hoopers forward Patrick Abah said, ”Today’s game was a great one and also a tough one for us.”

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”We started slow today because of our attitude and being too comfortable winning the game. We were able to change the approach after the head coach spoke to us about being too relaxed and to increase the intensity on our defense.”

Hoopers, however, found answers to Batons’ defense as they made a 19-0 run to take a 41-25 lead to the break.

The KingsMen got back stronger to seal the win in the fourth after they struggled on the offensive end in the third quarter.

Rivers Hoopers will face Ebun Comets in the first game of Day four games of the Atlantic Conference today and Abah said the team is well prepared for Comets.

”Comets definitely would come hard at us and try to be physical because they would feel that they stand a chance, but we’re prepared for anything to come,” he said. ”We just have to stay focused and listen to our coach’s instructions.”