Basketball

D’Tigress Roar into Afrobasket Semi Finals

Published

7 years ago

August 25, 2017

Nigeria’s women’s basketball team, D’Tigress snatched a semi final ticket at the 2017 FIBA Afrobasket Women Championship after blowing out Cote d’Ivoire in the quarter final stage 98points to 43 on Friday.

The team, captained by Turkey-based Aisha Mohammed had it easy as they dominated and won all the four quarters with the Ivoirians who struggled to cope with the superior tactical approach of the Sam Vincent led team.

A breakdown of the game saw the team leading at the end of every quarter with 23-13, 46-15, 71-32 and 98-43 which means the D’Tigress will face hosts, Mali or Egypt in the semi final.

Akhator Evelyn continued her five star performance at the competition as she powered the team to a comfortable quarter final victory with 21points, two assists and 11 rebounds.

Evelyn who lived up to the pre-match hype never disappointed, providing the platform for her team’s win as she continues to push for the Most Valuable Player of the tournament in her first Afrobasket campaign.

D’Tigress co-captain, Kalu Ezinne put up another impeccable show contributing 17points, eight assists and three rebounds on a wet Friday afternoon at the Palais Des Sports Salamatou, Maiga, Bamako.

Elephant Girls basketball club of Lagos three points specialist, Nkechi Akashili recorded a 60% conversion ratio from the three points line as she successfully made three out of five attempts on her way to contributing 13 points for her team.

Atosu Upe weighed in with 12 points and four assists to secure a semi final ticket.

Speaking after the game, Sam Vincent praised her girls for improving on their last game against Senegal.

“I thought we recovered a little bit more from the Senegal game in terms of getting our fast breaks going, pushing the ball a little bit higher and finishing well under the basket which we struggled to do against Senegal.

“I thought our defence was more aggressive. In the game against Senegal, we were down a little bit against the physical players, but we recovered to play a lot better.”

According to him despite not reaching the 100 point mark, Vincent said a win is a win irrespective of the final result of the game which has seen them book a date with Mali at the semi finals.

“I am excited about today’s defence, we have only been together for just six games, yet it’s a team that is really competitive which shows how good they are and tomorrow will be a good test against Mali.”

Ahead of the semi finals against Mali/Egypt, the coach acknowledged that the game is going to be tough against a bigger and experienced Malien side.

For the team to stand a good chance of proceeding to the finals and book an automatic 2018 FIBA World Cup ticket, Vincent said, “We know we have to come out, have an exceptional game and really defend the post very well and we have to get out and run.”

Basketball

Angola’s Petro De Luanda Wins 2024 Basketball Africa League Championship

Published

2 months ago

June 2, 2024

Kunle Solaja

2024 Basketball Africa League (BAL) Champion Petro de Luanda (Angola) (Credit: BAL/Getty Images)

Petro de Luanda Becomes First Sub-Saharan African Team to Win BAL Finals (BAL.NBA.com); Libya’s Al Ahly Ly Forward Jo Lual-Acuil Jr. Named 2024 BAL Most Valuable Player and Defensive Player of the Year.
Angola’s Petro de Luanda this Sunday defeated Libya’s Al Ahly Ly 107-94 to win the 2024 Basketball Africa League (BAL) Championship, which took place at BK Arena in Kigali, Rwanda and reached fans in 214 countries and territories in 17 languages. Petro de Luanda, the 2022 BAL runner-up and one of two teams to have participated in all four BAL seasons, is the first sub-Saharan African team to win the BAL Finals after previous champions from Egypt and Tunisia.

Following the game, BAL President Amadou Gallo Fall and President of FIBA Africa Anibal Manave presented Petro de Luanda with the BAL Championship Trophy and Al Ahly Ly forward Jo Lual-Acuil Jr. with The Hakeem Olajuwon Trophy for winning the 2024 BAL Most Valuable Player Award and The Dikembe Mutombo Trophy for winning 2024 BAL Defensive Player of the Year.

Petro de Luanda went 5-2 during the Kalahari Conference group phase in Pretoria, South Africa, and the Playoffs, defeating Senegal’s AS Douanes and South Africa’s Cape Town Tigers in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively, to advance to the Finals. Nigeria’s Rivers Hoopers defeated the Cape Town Tigers 80-57 in the third-place game yesterday.

Lual-Acuil Jr. is also the 2024 BAL Scoring Champion and was named to the 2024 All-BAL First Team and All-BAL Defensive Team after leading Al Ahly Ly to a 5-4 record during the Nile Conference group phase in Cairo, Egypt, and the Playoffs, recording per game averages of 21.1 points, 9.9 rebounds and 1.6 blocks.

Several former NBA players attended games throughout the 2024 BAL Playoffs and Finals, including BAL Ambassadors and NBA Africa investors Luol Deng (South Sudan), Ian Mahinmi (France; ties to Benin) and Joakim Noah (grandfather from Cameroon); 2015 NBA champion Festus Ezeli (Nigeria), and New York Knicks President of G League Operations Pops Mensah-Bonsu (Ghana).

The BAL has also announced the 2024 Coach of the Year, Sportsmanship Award winner, All-BAL First Team, All-BAL Defensive Team, and Ubuntu Award winner. The voting panels varied for each award and were comprised of fans, coaches, team captains, media, broadcasters, and scouts.

2024 BAL Coach of the Year
Rivers Hoopers head coach Odaudu Ogoh led his team to a third-place finish with a 6-3 record during the Sahara Conference group phase in Dakar, Senegal, and the Playoffs.

2024 BAL Sportsmanship Award
Rivers Hoopers point guard Will Perry received The Manute Bol Trophy for exemplifying the ideals of sportsmanship and camaraderie. Perry was also named to the 2024 All-BAL First Team.

2024 All-BAL First TeamPositionPlayerTeamPoint GuardWill PerryRivers HoopersGuardSamkelo CeleCape Town TigersGuardChris CrawfordUS MonastirForwardJo Lual-Acuil Jr.Al Ahly LyForward / CenterAliou DiarraFUS Rabat Basketball
2024 All-BAL Defensive TeamPositionPlayerTeamPoint GuardSouleyman DiabateAl Ahly LyGuardSamkelo CeleCape Town TigersGuardAbdoulaye HarounaAS DouanesForwardJo Lual-Acuil Jr.Al Ahly LyForward / CenterAliou DiarraFUS Rabat Basketball
2024 BAL Ubuntu Award
AS Douanes guard and team captain Alkaly Ndour won the 2024 BAL Ubuntu Award in recognition of his ongoing efforts to use the game of basketball to positively impact the lives of youth in his native Senegal. Ndour is the founder of “Kayelennioufo” (which translates to “Let’s have fun”), a basketball tournament for nearly 250 amateur players in his home neighbourhood of Bopp in Dakar. Ndour was presented with the 2024 BAL Ubuntu Trophy during an on-court ceremony on May 25 in conjunction with Africa Day.

Basketball

Nigeria’s Rivers Hoopers Advance to 2024 BAL Playoffs

Published

2 months ago

May 13, 2024

Kunle Solaja

Five Hoopers players scored in double digits with Devine Eke (18 points, 18 rebounds) and Peter Olisemeka (17 points, 19 rebounds) dominating the boards

Nigeria’ Rivers Hoopers beat Rwanda’s Armée Patriotique Rwandaise (APR) 78-71 in the first-ever BAL (https://BAL.NBA.com) double-overtime game and became the first Sahara Conference team to clinch a spot in the BAL Playoffs which are set to tip off at BK Arena in Kigali, Rwanda on May 24.

Five Hoopers players scored in double digits with Devine Eke (18 points, 18 rebounds) and Peter Olisemeka (17 points, 19 rebounds) dominating the boards as well. Will Perry added 11 points and seven assists in a low scoring affair in which both teams shot less than 40 percent from the floor.

Jean Jacques Nshobozwabyosenumukiza led APR with 16 points and five rebounds, while Dario Hunt finished with 15 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists. Going into today’s matchups, APR is currently second in the Sahara Conference and will look to secure a postseason berth when they take on Senegal’s AS Douanes (4^th place with 2 wins and 3 losses) this evening.

In the second game of the day, the 2022 BAL champions Tunisia’s US Monastir kept their playoff hopes alive, defeating AS Douanes 75-69 and getting their second straight win in the competition. This is a turnaround for the Tunisian champions who started the Sahara Conference from three straight defeats, but now stand one win away from the postseason. Chris Crawford led Monastir with 18 points and seven assists, Oussama Marnaoui scored 16, and Firas Lahyani finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Abdoulaye Harouna led the Douanes with 22 points, with Adama Diakhite adding 14 points and nine rebounds.

APR, AS Douanes and US Monastir will compete for the last two playoff spots when the Sahara Conference concludes this afternoon – Rivers Hoopers will take on US Monastir at 2:30 p.m. GMT and AS Douanes will face APR at 5:30 p.m. GMT.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Basketball Africa League (BAL).

Basketball Africa League (BAL)

Basketball

NBBF Final Four: We are In Port Harcourt to win, says Gboko City Chiefs

Published

8 months ago

November 22, 2023

Kunle Solaja

Gboko City Chiefs making presentation to Chris Green

The General Manager of Gboko City Chiefs Basketball Club, Fanen Iornem says they are in Port Harcourt to win the NBBF Final Four championship.

Iornem, who stated this on Wednesday during a courtesy visit to the Rivers Commissioner for Sports, Barr Chris Green, stressed that the team was ready for any opposition.

He opined that Gboko City Chiefs have bonded together sufficiently and are in high spirits to overcome opposing teams and land the title.

According to him, “I will just tell straight forward that we are here to win; in as much as bookmakers might want to say anything, we are happy that everybody is looking at us like the 4th team because this is our second season in NBBF league but we are here to win with the calibre of the players we have, we have everything we need to succeed.”

On basketball in Nigeria, the GM said that the level was high but was quick to add that there is the need for more championships and longer period of playing to improve the game.

Reiterating the GM’s position, Team captain, Antibas Samaila and Centre, Bright Osagie Akhuetie both said they were ready to give their all and were not scared of any team

While welcoming the team to Rivers State, Chris Green expressed delight that the final four championship was taking place in Port Harcourt and assured that necessary facilities and associated logistics have been put in place to enable hitch competition.

While explaining that basketball was is first love in sports, he noted that the State would be making best of the final four championship to prove the dominance of Rivers Hoopers amongst other teams.

Said he: We have in place what is probably the best basketball court in Nigeria as at today. We have done everything possible to ensure a great atmosphere for everybody.

“I am happy that the final four is here. There will be a level playing ground for every team, let basketball be the winner. Rivers Hoopers is the home of basketball in Nigeria and we have always been winning. I want to welcome every team to Rivers State.”