Rivers Hoopers bounced back from a classification defeat to AS Douanes, to punch a semi-final ticket at The BAL, edging 2021 finalists, US Monastir 92-88 in a thrilling game on Monday.
A bizarre incident in the 1st quarter when USM guard, George Williams’ name was not found in the official game day documentation, saw him ejected after a nine-minute delay, the game resumed and the Tunisian club closed out a narrow 21-20 lead.
However, Rivers Hoopers returned to outscore their opponents in the 2nd and 3rd quarters building up a six-point lead heading into the final quarter.
The Nigerian team held on to their slim dominance as the game entered the final stretch which came to a possession game with nine seconds left on the clock.
Eventually, they saw it out despite getting outscored 26-24 in the Q4.
Will Perry orchestrated for the Kings Men playing 40 minutes and shooting 60 percent with 9/15 in field goals.
He was 4/9 from down town (44.4%) but was also particularly effective on the D with 4 steals and posted 4 defensive rebounds.
The Hoppers’ PG scored a game-high 33pts, 5 assists and 5 rebs.
It was the third meeting between the teams at this year’s tournament – twice they battled in the Savannah Conference taking a game apiece.
Next up for the historic Nigerian team led by Coach Ogoh Odaudu and Abdulrahman Mohammed is a first-ever semi-final match up against Al Ahly (Libya) on May 29 at the BK Arena.
