For the second 12 months in a row, Nigeria’s Rivers Hoopers have certified for the Playoffs of the Basketball Africa League (BAL). The Playoffs will happen in Pretoria, South Africa, from 6 to 14 June.
Rivers Hoopers beat FUS Rabat 79-71 on Thursday night time, taking their document to 3 wins and one loss within the Kalahari Convention.
With two video games left, the Hoopers are second on the desk behind Al-Ittihad of Egypt, who’re unbeaten with 4 wins.
FUS Rabat sit in third place with one win and three losses, whereas Stade Malien are but to win a sport with a 0-4 document. Rivers Hoopers will face Al-Ittihad subsequent, whereas FUS and Stade Malien will struggle for third place.
Rivers Hoopers coach Ogoh Odaudu mentioned he was blissful his crew reached the 2025 BAL Playoffs early.
“It feels actually good to qualify for the finals once more. It’s the very best stage of basketball in Africa, and each crew desires to be there. I’m actually blissful we’ve made it. We’ll take a while to have a good time,” he mentioned.
Coach Odaudu added that the crew’s objective from the beginning was to achieve the Playoffs, however now they need extra.
“We completed third final 12 months. Now we need to do higher. Everybody has supported us and pushed us ahead. We’re aiming to go a step additional this time.”
“Proper now we’re having fun with our win from final night time, however we’ll get again to coaching this night,” he added.
Rivers Hoopers will play their subsequent match in opposition to Egyptian champions Al-Ittihad on Saturday at 4pm WAT.
