Rivers Hoopers win second straight game, lead BAL Sahara Conference

Nigeria’s Rivers Hoopers have continued to show its dominance as they defeated Rwanda’s Armée Patriotique Rwandaise (APR) 86-82 which marked their first two consecutive wins in the Basketball Africa League (BAL) at the Dakar Arena in Senegal.

Will Perry set the tone finishing with 31 points, while Devine Eke added 19 points, eight rebounds and six assists for the Hoopers, who are now remaining the only undefeated team in the conference. John Wilkins missed four free throws in the fourth quarter’s closing seconds, but APR could not turn their fortunes around.

Obadiah Noel led APR with 32 points and seven rebounds, Dario Hunt got 14 points and five rebounds, and captain William Robeyns finished with 12 points, five rebounds and four assists. With one win and one loss, APR are currently third in the Sahara Conference.

The second game of the day brought as much excitement, with home team AS Douanes beating Tunisia’s US Monastir 76-59. Abdoulaye Harouna scored a game-high 35 points, taking over offensively when it mattered most for the Douanes, who recorded their first win. Former NBA Academy Africa player Jean Jacques Boissy ended up with 11 points and eight assists.

George Williams led Monastir with 16 points, with Ater Majok dominating the game on the boards (13 rebounds), but the 2022 BAL champions are still looking their first win in this year’s campaign.

It will be noted that all the teams in the Sahara Conference will play each other twice, with the top two teams joining Morocco’s FUS Rabat, Angola’s Petro de Luanda, South Africa’s Cape Town Tigers, Egypt’s Al Ahly and Libya’s Al Ahly Ly in the BAL Playoffs and Finals in Kigali, Rwanda later this month.  The last playoff spot will be decided between Central African Republic’s Bangui SC and the team which will end up third in the Sahara Conference.