{"id":74102,"date":"2024-05-26T16:31:17","date_gmt":"2024-05-26T16:31:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/bal-2024-as-douanes-beat-rivers-hoopers-in-playoffs-classification-game"},"modified":"2024-05-26T16:55:42","modified_gmt":"2024-05-26T16:55:42","slug":"bal-2024-as-douanes-beat-rivers-hoopers-in-playoffs-classification-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/bal-2024-as-douanes-beat-rivers-hoopers-in-playoffs-classification-game","title":{"rendered":"BAL 2024: AS Douanes beat Rivers Hoopers in playoffs classification game"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Rwanda. <\/strong><\/span>Saturday, May 25<\/p>\n

US Monastir 70-67 Petro de Luanda<\/p>\n

AS Douanes 63-57 Rivers Hoopers<\/p>\n

Senegal’s AS Douanes overcame Nigeria’s Rivers Hoopers 63-57 in Saturday night\u2019s classification round game of the Basketball Africa League (BAL) 2024 playoffs which are underway at BK Arena.<\/p>\n

The Nigerian champions lost by a single digit but the scoring gap could have been even larger as they trailed by as many as 22 points at the end of the third quarter.<\/p>\n

Hoopers guard Kelvin Amayo scored the first two points of the game for their only lead but his side struggled to keep up with AS Douanes\u2019 fast-paced game ever since.<\/p>\n

The Nigerians were nowhere near the team that took the 2024 Sahara Conference by storm, winning it with an impressive 4-2 mark.<\/p>\n

For most of the first three quarters, the game was a one-sided affair as nothing worked out for the Port Harcourt-based team. And this became clearer in the third quarter where they shot 1-for-13.<\/p>\n

And, being outscored 13-5 ahead of the final quarter was the last straw for Hoopers head coach Ogoh Odaudu who made a bold decision of sitting out his starting line-up.<\/p>\n

Then, his bench took over, forcing AS Douanes to rethink their strategy.<\/p>\n

The Hoopers reserves outscored the Senegalese rivals 14-0 in the last ten minutes. And, when Johnson Anaiye scored a mid-range jumper that cut the gap to 61-57 with 25 seconds left, the 2023 BAL runners-up recalled its starting line-up, but the damage was already done for the Hoopers.<\/p>\n

Devine Eke, the only Hoopers player to score in double digits, finished with 11 points.<\/p>\n

The Hoopers out-rebounded AS Douanes 56-48, but turning the ball over 21 times in the first three quarters \u2013 they had one more turnover in the fourth quarter \u2013 was too detrimental.<\/p>\n

Abdoulaye Harouna led the AS Douanes with a game-high of 16 points and Maduc Akec added 13.<\/p>\n

AS Douanes and Rivers Hoopers head to the quarter-finals with a 4-3 mark each.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, US Monastir beat Petro de Luanda 70-67 on Saturday evening, a result that saw the Tunisians\u2019 win ratio improve to 4-3 while the Angolans dropped to 2-3 this season.<\/p>\n

Here are the quarterfinals matchups after the classification round:<\/p>\n

Sunday, May 26<\/p>\n

FUS de Rabat (1) vs Cape Town Tigers (8)<\/p>\n

Al Ahly SC (2) vs Al Ahly Ly (7)<\/p>\n

Monday, May 27<\/p>\n

AS Douanes (3) vs Petro de Luanda (6)<\/p>\n

Rivers Hoopers (4) vs US Monastir (5)<\/p>\n\r\n