Rivers Hoopers battle US Monastir as BAL enters quarterfinals

Having shrugged off the disappointment of their loss on Saturday to AS Douanes of Senegal in a classification game, Rivers Hoopers will take on US Monsatir of Tunisia, today, at the BK Arena, Kigali, Rwanda.

US Monastir defeated Petro de Luanda also on Saturday, but today’s game is expected to be different as Rivers Hoopers will come into the tie with the best of their players.

The Kingsmen rested some players against AS Douanes having already qualified from the group stage, but this a different ball game as the winner will qualify for the semifinals.

Speaking after Saturday’s game 57-63 loss to US Douanes, Rivers Hoopers Coach, Ogoh Odaudu, said: ‘’The first three quarters were terrible.

“The last quarter was a good one for us; we got contributions from the bench; we rallied and almost got it, but we lost.’’

“It is a learning curve for us; we are not invisible. We need to go back and put in the work.’’

The team’s BAL Elevate player, David Ike, scored a game-high 11 points, the only player who finished in double figures. Ike added three rebounds and three blocks in 15 minutes.

In other quarterfinal games, Al Ahly of Libya will take on the defending champions, Egypt’s Al Ahly, while FUS Rabat will take on Cape Town Tigers, also at the BK Arena.