Desmond Iwuchukwu
Former Nigeria champions Rivers Hoopers recorded a hard-fought victory over Spintex Knights in their opening game at the maiden edition of the Louis Edem Foundation Invitational tournament in Lagos.
The Kingsmen who came into this tie fresh from failing to qualify for this year’s Basketball Africa League outscored their opponents 77-72.
Adebayo Oduleye shot 11 points while Johnson Anaiye had 10 points as Hoopers returned to winning ways against their athletic opponents from Ghana.
Hoopers held a 13-point- lead at halftime (45-32) but had to struggle for the most part of the second half as they were outscored in the last two quarters (19-18, 21-14).
With two minutes left to play, the Kingsmen gave up four straight possessions and found their lead cut down from 15 to six.
Hoopers, however, held on to record their first victory at the invitational tournament.
Anaiye said their target is to reclaim their spot as the best team in the country after failing to win the league in November 2022.
“Our target is to redeem our name considering the fact we lost the final 8. We want to prove we can still do it and we are coming for the title this year.”
The former Kwara Falcons guard attributed the win to his coach whose strategy won the game for them.
“I believe the game was okay. We are happy we came out with a win and we played according to what we were taught by our coach and it paid off.
“Though we struggled towards the end of the game I believe it is because it is the first game so most of these things are bound to happen,” he added.
In the same vein, an impressed Rivers Hoopers captain, Victor Anthony Koko, feels the team that featured some new recruits need to build synergy with more games.
“It was really an awesome game and I give kudos to my team. The expectation is positive, a championship team is what I can see now. Rivers Hoopers is a championship team but most of the players are just playing with each other for the first time on the same team. I can see the players want to win and I see the winning mentality in them.”
