Basketball
Nigeria’s Rivers Hoopers Advance to 2024 BAL Playoffs
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 (4th 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)
Musa Kida, the president of the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF), has been appointed as a non-executive chairman of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), the country’s apex oil company. His appointment is part of the sweeping overhaul that the Nigerian president, Bola Tinubu made in the first working day after the Sallah break.
The sacking of the board of the NNPC sees the appointment of Bashir Bayo Ojulari as the new Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO), replacing Mele Kolo Kyari. Prior to his current appointment, Kida was the Deputy Managing Director, Deep Water Services, of Total Nigeria.
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Basketball
NSC DG Bukola Olopade Congratulates NBBF Boss Musa Kida for new appointment as NNPC Chairman
The Director General of the National Sports Commission NSC, Bukola Olopade, has congratulated the President of the Nigeria Basketball Federation, NBBF, Musa Kida, for his appointment as the new Board Chairman of the Nigeria National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Olopade said Musa Kida has been one of Nigeria’s most efficient and Productive Sports administrators who has sacrificed a lot for the growth of Nigerian Basketball.
The DG maintained that his latest appointment is a testament to his years of passion, hard work, dedication and a very successful track record in the oil sector for more than two decades.
” Musa Kida is an accomplished administrator whose achievements cut across both the oil sector and Nigerian basketball. I have no doubt that the NNPC Limited will attain better efficiency and attract more investment under his watch”.
” Under his leadership as the President of the Nigeria Basketball Federation, we have seen the steady growth of the country’s basketball and how the National teams have continued to achieve new heights.
” At the last Olympic Games in France, the Nigeria Women’s Basketball team, D’Tigress was one of the shining stories for Team Nigeria, where they set a new record by making it to the knockout phase before losing to the United States”.
” I personally know the efforts behind the scenes that kida put in for Nigeria to achieve that feat with the girls in France and the Nigerian girls have been an unrivalled team on the continent for some time now”.
The DG added that he does not doubt that Musa Kida will use his new position to further earnest the development of Nigerian Sports especially basketball especially now that there is a new focus on growing a sustainable Sports Economy.
” Whilst the Oil sector will benefit immensely from the Expertise of Musa Kida as the new Board Chairman of the NNPC Limited, Mr President, has further helped to place Nigerian Sports in a better pedestal by putting one of us in a very strategic place like the NNPC”, he concluded.
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Basketball
FIBA names Nigeria’s Agada among those who starred the most on the last day of the 2025 AfroBasket Qualifiers
The 16 teams that will be competing at this year’s FIBA AfroBasket from 12-24 August have been confirmed, with some teams securing their places on the final day of qualifying.
A quintet of individuals put in stellar performances to send their teams to this year’s African championship in style.
Teams have 169 days to prepare for the 2025 edition of the AfroBasket set to be hosted by former champions Angola, who will be chasing a record-extending 12th title.
FIBA- Africa looked at the matches and the players and featured nine players who were the stars of the final day on Sunday.
Here is FIBA’s analysis: The return of the Tokyo Olympian has been a blessing for Abdulrahman Mohammed’s Nigeria.
For the second game in a row, Agada was a thorn in their side’s side, scoring 23 points in a convincing 77-62 win over 2021 AfroBasket semifinalists Cape Verde.
The 30-year-old played just over 30 minutes and finished two rebounds shy of a double-double while adding six assists and five steals for an efficiency rating of 29.
Nigeria entered the competition after an 0-3 start, but his disruptive presence on the floor helped them to a 3-0 run to qualify, averaging 19 points, 7.7 rebounds and 6.3 assists.
The other players highlighted are: Ousmane Drame of Guinea, Karim Maneof Senegal, Childe Dundao of Angola, Siriman Kanoute of Mali, as well as Ntore Habimana (Rwanda) Aliou Fadiala Diarra (Mali) Allan Dokossi (Central African Republic)and Nisre Zouzoua (Cote d’Ivoire)
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The league title will be icing on Soname’s birthday cake on Sunday
As major global sporting events beckon, Morocco’s monarch launches the Kenitra-Marrakech High-Speed rail project
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