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| Hoopers in action |
Rivers
Hoopers majestically returned to the summit of the Kwese Premier Basketball League
Atlantic Conference after they out-rebounded Delta Force in a 74-79 win at the
Asaba Township Stadium, Delta State on Thursday.
Emmanuel Balogun scored 14 points, 9 rebounds and 3
steals, Ronald Alalibo added 13 points and 7 rebounds while Buchi Nwaiwu made
his first double digit of the season scoring 10 points and 2 blocked shots.
It took until well into the third quarter for
the KingsMen to establish their dominance. The first half was a very close game
as they were forced to commit 14 turnovers before the half time break, with 4
lead changes and game tied 4 times.
In all, Hoopers suffered a total of 32
turnovers, 14 more than their opponents, but made 47 rebounds, scoring 7 of
their 21 three points shots with three of the 7 from Alalibo in the second half.
Kevin Ikhalo finished with a game high 23 points
and 6 rebounds for Delta Force and Ibrahim Oyebamiji added 12 points and 5
steals while Philip Nwosu contributed 10 points and 6 steals for the
Asaba-based side.
Despite a late rally
by Force in the last quarter (25-17), Hoopers held on to leapfrog Kwara Falcons
on top of the Atlantic conference after the Ilorin-based side lost earlier in
the day to Oluyole Warriors in Ibadan.
The KingsMen have now won
four games in a row since the emphatic loss to Falcons on May 25 in Ilorin.
Rivers Hoopers coach, Ogoh
Odaudu expressed his excitement after the win.
“It was a good game. The
most important thing is that we won the game even though we didn't play to the
level we were supposed to play."
"I think I
will blame it on the fact that most of these guys have the break in their
head already. They are thinking of their families, homes etc that was what the
problem was. All in all it was a good game, we won and that's our main
objective," said Odaudu.
“Nobody expected that Kwara
were going to lose to Oluyole in Ibadan today, we thought we were going
into the break head to head only bottom because of goal difference but
unfortunately they lost and you could see how the players reacted after the game
when I told them they were back on top of the table, it's a nice feeling,"
Odaudu added.
There will be a two-week
break to allow players rest and prepare for the third round of games. Hoopers
will resume with another road trip to Lagos to face Nigeria Customs on June 22
and Police Baton on June 24.
Meanwhile, the All-star
weekend has been scheduled to take place June 17, 2017 in Abuja.
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