Basketball Africa League: Rivers Hoopers qualify for finals, set for rematch with Al Ittihad
Nigerian Premier Basketball League champions Rivers Hoopers have qualified for the finals of the 2025 Basketball Africa League (BAL) for the second consecutive time after securing their first-ever qualification last year.
Rivers Hoopers booked their place in the 2025 BAL finals after winning three out their first four games at ongoing Kalahari Conference qualification tournament in Morocco, with the victory against home team FUS Rabat in Game 4 securing the KingsMen’s spot in the finals on Thursday.
The last year’s bronze medalists kicked off their qualification campaign with a comfortable 81-60 win over Malian side Stade Malien on April 5 before topping up the performance with another 88-82 victory over FUS Rabat one day later.
However, the Hoopers were unable to go past conference leaders Al Ittihad of Egypt, losing 100-80 on April 8 before bouncing back two days later against FUS Rabat in the second round of the tournament, winning 79-71 to secure their place in the playoffs scheduled to take place from in South Africa later in June.
Rivers Hoopers will once again face Al Ittihad on Saturday in an important game that could determine the winner of the conference before concluding their campaign against Stade Malien on Sunday.
Reacting after securing a spot in the finals, Rivers Hoopers head coach Ogoh Odaudu said, “It feels really good to qualify for the finals again. It is the highest basketball in Africa and everybody in Africa wants to be there. I am really really happy that we are there now. We hope to take some time off to celebrate.”
He added, “Right from the get go, our target was to make the playoffs, now we have made the playoffs we are going to get greedy. We came in third last year. We are hoping that we are going to go a step further.”
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