BY Idris Shehu
Rivers Hoopers have qualified for the 2024 Basketball Africa League (BAL) semi-final.
The team defeated Tunisia’s US Monastir 92-88 in the quarter-final on Monday at the BK Arena in Kigali, Rwanda, to become the first Nigerian team to reach the competition’s last four.
The King’s Men qualified for the 2024 BAL playoffs after finishing first in the Sahara Conference. The team won four games and lost two.
The 2024 edition was the Hoopers’ second appearance at the BAL. In 2021, they crashed out in the group stage, winning just one game.
The King’s Men continued to banish the memories of the previous outing and were effective against US Monastir in the quarter-final.
Only one point could separate the teams at the end of the first quarter as Monastir led the Hoopers 21-20.
The Nigerian team turned the game around in the second quarter and was ahead 45-40 at half-time.
The King’s Men maintained their sizable lead over their opponents in the third quarter, which ended 68-62.
Hoopers held on in the final quarter and hustled out a 4-point victory over the Tunisian club.
The team will play Al-Ahly SC of Libya in the semi-final on Wednesday.
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