KIGALI, Rwanda — Rivers Hoopers became the first Nigerian team to clinch the bronze medal in the Basketball Africa League (BAL) with an 80-57 win over South Africa’s Cape Town Tigers on Friday.
The Tigers, who afforded game time to players who had lacked it throughout their playoff run, and who were without the injured Samkelo Cele and Cartier Diarra, fell far behind early and trailed 25-8 at the end of the first quarter.
Dhieu Deing was in hot form for Cape Town and countered the impressive performance from Rivers Hoopers’ Kelvin Amayo, ensuring the Tigers made up some ground in the second quarter to cut the lead to 43-29 at half-time.
However, Devine Eke took on a leading role as the game progressed and Rivers Hoopers dominated the third quarter — extending their lead to 63-38 — before cruising to victory.
Amayo was the game’s top scorer with 25 points, while Eke got 20.
“The experience here means a lot for Nigeria,” Eke said. “Like I told Coach Ogoh even in AfroBasket, my goal is to change the narrative for Nigeria, and I feel like this team is doing that.”
Tigers head coach Florsheim Ngwenya in the post-match press conference: “It’s a bit of a mixed feeling. We applied ourselves much better in the playoffs. We’re hoping to go further… at the end of the day, fourth place is not so bad.”
The Tigers were the first South African team to reach the BAL semifinals, albeit they did so only after Dynamo BBC were disqualified due to their refusal to display the ‘Visit Rwanda’ logo, paving the way for the Kalahari Conference hosts to reach the playoffs.
Earlier, the NBA Academy Africa beat local side Rwandan Energy Group 82-72 in a showcase game, with Khadim Rassoul Mboup starring.
Awards were also handed out, with Rivers Hoopers head coach Ogoh Odaudu named BAL Coach of the Year.
There was some consolation for the Tigers as Cele made the BAL All-Defensive first team along with Jo Lual-Acuil, Solo Diabaté (both Al Ahly Benghazi), Aliou Diarra (FUS Rabat) and Abdoulaye Harouna (AS Douanes).