Defending champion and unbeaten Rivers Hoopers are the Atlantic Conference champions after going unbeaten in the 2024 Nigeria Premier Basketball League conference stage.
The Atlantic Conference features eight teams with matches at the Indoor Sports Hall Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium, Benin.
The Kingsmen went 7/7 in scintillating fashion and blowouts.
Unbeaten Rivers Hoopers: Hoops And Reads With The Toughest Test
In Rivers Hoopers’ closest game, they beat Hoops and Read 80-78 on the last day of the Atlantic Conference.
Four players finished in double digits for Hoopers; Johnson Anaiye scored 13, Michael Okiki added 12, while Patrick Abah and Ifeanyi Koko scored 10 each.
Abah and Koko made two treys in the game, scoring 2/3 from the arc. Anaiye also made 8-of-12 from the line.
Hooper’s captain and vice-captain Victor Koko and Buchi Nwaiwu contributed from the boards with 6 rebounds each in the game.
Hoopers took a 20-10 point lead with two minutes remaining in the opening quarter, but a 7-0 run late in that quarter reduced the deficit to two for Hoops and Read.
Rivers Hoopers made 7/27 from deep and scored 21/27 from the foul line and outrebounded Hoops and Read 31-28.
Two former Hoopers’ players, Michael Oriakhi and Bolaji Emilagba, combined for 28 points as the Lagos team outscored the KingsMen 25-20 in the fourth.
Bolaji made a crucial three-pointer with 18 seconds left to take the game to a one-point game 79-78.
Last Minute Fever And One Million Naira On The Line
Okiki, who was fouled right after head coach Ogoh Odaudu called a time-out, made one of the free throws in the last nine seconds of the game. Koko grabbed the rebound as Hoopers ran down the clock to pick up their seventh win in the Atlantic Conference.
Odaudu said, ”A win is a win, but I think we played our worst basketball of the tournament today; we didn’t do what we were supposed to do and drifted away from the plan.” I am still happy we held on for the win.”
Odaudu appreciated the Rivers Sports commissioner for motivating the players with 1 million naira for each win in the conference.
‘I think it’s something that motivated the players even more; the boys don’t like to hear anything about money. If you bet with them, you are certain to lose. The commissioner has been very good to us; he is the pillar of this team, we thank him for that, and looking forward to getting the money he promised us.”
The KingsMen will return to Port Harcourt on Sunday to prepare for the final eight, taking place November 13-19 at an unknown venue.
