Rivers Hoopers return to Basketball Africa League

PORT HARCOURT (Nigeria) - Rivers Hoopers, over the weekend, emerged champions of the 2023 Nigeria Premier Basketball League, defeating Nigeria Customs of Abuja 77-57 in the final game of the Final-Four held at the indoor Basketball Court in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria.

The Kings Men, as Rivers Hoopers are known, won the league for the fifth time after they completely dominated Nigeria Customs from start to finish to top the log on 6 points.

Highly elated Rivers Hoopers Coach, Ogoh Odaudu and team captain, Victor Anthony Koko shared their thoughts on what to expect from the team as they make their return to Africa's flagship club competition - Basketball Africa League (BAL).

Ben Uzoh featured for Rivers Hoopers in the inaugural BAL season in 2021

Coach Ogoh Odaudu, who has had a number of stints as head coach of Nigeria's men national team, aka D'Tigers, is confident that his team will not be a pushover at the fourth season of the highly anticipated BAL next year.

"We have learnt our lesson in first outing at BAL and we are happy that we have another opportunity to showcase what we can do," Odaudu said.

On day one, Hoopers were 67-62 victor over Gboko City Chiefs of Benue state while they also, outscored Hoops & Read of Lagos, owned by former D'Tigers captain Olumide Oyedeji by  74-68 points on Gameday 2 of the Nigeria Premier Basketball League Final Four.

Rivers Hoopers have now picked the sole ticket to represent Nigeria at the BAL.

Find below the Final-Four results:

Day 1 Results 23/11/2023
HOOPS AND READ - NIGERIA CUSTOMS (57-65)
GBOKO CITY CHIEFS - RIVERS HOOPERS (62-67)

Day 2 Results 24/11/2023
NIGERIA CUSTOMS - GBOKO CITY CHIEFS (66-71)
RIVERS HOOPERS - HOOPS & READ (74-68)

Day 3 Results 25/11/2023 
HOOPS & READ - GBOKO CITY CHIEFS (70-80)
RIVERS HOOPERS - NIGERIA CUSTOMS (77-57)

FIBA