Despite suffering their first loss at the ongoing 2024 Basketball Africa League—a 56-54 defeat to AS Douanes on Thursday—Nigerian champions Rivers Hoopers centre Peter Olisemeka says the KingsMen will be back better and stronger when they face APR on Saturday (today), as per latest reports.
Douanes had lost to the Port Harcourt-based team 77-68 in the first round.
But they had a game-winning buzzer-beater shot from Mike Fofana to thank, as the 26-year-old came up with the best shot of his career to halt the three-game winning streak of the Nigerians.
With the win, the hosts of the 2024 Sahara Conference improved their record to two wins and two defeats.
And with two games remaining in the conference, Olisemeka, who recorded his first BAL double-double of 16 points and 18 rebounds in the defeat, played down the shock loss.
“It’s one of those nights where things don’t always go as planned,” Olisemeka said in an interview.
“We are going to come back stronger.”
Hoopers head coach Ogoh Odaudu says he is happy with his team’s position but adds that his team needs to go back to the drawing board.
“It’s not over yet, Odaudu said in a chat.
“It is just the beginning; we need to go back to the drawing board,” the former D’Tigers guard said.
Meanwhile, three Hoopers stars have been listed among the 10 outstanding performers from the first six games of the Sahara Conference by FIBA Africa.
The players are Kelvin Amayo, Devine Eke, and Will Perry.
According to reports, Amayo contributed just seven points and eight assists in the Hoopers’ 77-68 win over AS Douanes in game one of the competition, but his best outing was in the Hoopers84-63 triumph over US Monastir, where he finished with a game-high of 30 points.
On his part, Eke couldn’t have had a better BAL debut. He shot 11-for-17 in the Nigerian champions’ opener to finish with 31 points while adding 12 rebounds.
While in the game against US Monastir, he finished with 16 points and 12 rebounds to become the only player in the conference to register two double-doubles.
Perry, who was making his third appearance at the competition, has played a huge role for the Hoopers, running their offence with admirable class.
His catch-and-shoot technique has given defenders a hard time, as was the case in the Hoopers’ 86-82 win over APR, where Perry finished 7-for-13 from behind the arc. Had he made two more three-pointers, he would have tied his own BAL record for most three-pointers made in a game.
The Hoopers remain at the top of the conference with a 3-1 (three wins and one defeat) record.
Olaitan Ibrahim