Ugochukwu Iwuchukwu
Rivers Hoopers bowed out of the FIBA Africa Basketball League after losing 91-70 to JS Kairouan of Tunisia in their third and last Group A game in Sale, Morocco on Sunday.
Abdul Yahaya had a team-high 22 points and five rebounds, Solomon Ajegbeyi scored 12 points and seven rebounds, while Emmanuel Balogun added 10 points.
Yahaya shot 52.94% from the field and 4/4 from the free throw line for Rivers Hoopers. In total, Hoopers had 13/17 from the line against JSK while shooting five 3-pointers in the game compared to 18 scored by JSK.
With a 9 point deficit going to the break 47-38, Hoopers fell farther behind in the third quarter after JSK hit six 3-pointers to increase their lead to 21 points. Hoopers couldn’t find their way back in the fourth and were outscored 26-21.
Lawrence Gilbert Jr scored a game-high 29 points and five rebounds, Jawhar Jawadi had 17 points and six rebounds while Maodo Nguirane added 16 points and 13 rebound double-double for JS Kairouan.
Gilbert and Jawadi combined for 11 of the 18 three point shots made by the Tunisians which proved crucial against Hoopers who had a poor shooting percentage of 34.21% from the field.
With the result, the Kingsmen failed to book their place in the last eight and will return to Nigeria on Monday.
AS Sale of Morocco and JS Kairouan qualify for the Elite 8 of the FIBA Africa Basketball League.
