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D’Tigress Devour Stubborn DR Congo

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The D’Tigress recorded their second win at the 2017 FIBA Women Afrobasket tournament after digging deep to defeat stubborn Democratic Republic of Congo by 84 points to 47.

Coach Sam Vincent again put faith in Ogoke Sarah, Elonu Adaora, Madu Ndidi, Akhator Evelyn and Kalu Ezinne who started against Mozambique in their first game on Friday at the Palais Des Sports arena in Bamako.

However, Nigeria got her win through the unusual suspects with Elitzur Holon of Israel star, Nyingifa Atonye Jennifer registering 13 points, four rebounds and three assists to lead the overall statistics table.

Upe Atosu scored 12points and provided two assists for the team while his Elephants Girls of Lagos counterpart, Nkeshi Akashili added 11points, one assist and three steals as she continued to push for a regular playing time in the team.

Adaora Elonu who led the team’s scoring chart in their last game against Mozambique caught five rebounds, provided four assists and scored nine points.

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D’Tigress for the second time in as many games dominated proceedings and led their opponents all through the game to eventually emerge comfortable winners.

At the end of the first quarter, Nigeria shot to a 23points to eight lead before extending it to 41 points to 30 at the end of the second quarter.

It was not a third quarter that the D’Tigress team wished for as they struggled to make the baskets despite being in possession and moving the ball around for the better part of the quarter.

At the end of the third quarter, they only managed to score just 11 points which prompted the technical crew to call on fresh hands from the bench for the fourth quarter.

The display in the last quarter was a joy to behold with spectators and handful of Nigerians present at the arena led by the Nigerian Ambassador to Mali, His Excellency, Ken Nwachukwu rising to their feet at intervals to applaud the team’s display.

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The team justified their pre-tournament hype as one of the teams to beat at the 2017 Afrobasket tournament as they put up a commanding performance to end the game at  84-47 against a side that made a return to the continental competition after more than 40 years of absence.

Speaking at the end of the game, D’Tigress point guard, Kalu Ezinne described the game as tough and an eye opener despite their display in the fourth quarter that gave them the comfortable lead.

Despite managing just seven points less than 24 hours after scoring a massive 16 points against Mozambique, Kalu who became a sensation at the 2016 Olympics qualifiers for the D’Tigress in France, is not worried as she is gratified that she played according to instructions.

“We just didn’t put a little bit of body on everybody. We really need to focus on boxing out because we are going to play bigger teams.

“So, I think as a team, we need to focus on boxing out and not allow our opposition to get the second chance shots.”

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Despite admitting the need to be more decisive against their opponents, Kalu is not worried about their chances against bigger teams.

“It doesn’t make me worry; it just shows that we definitely need to buckle down on it. We just have to take it one game at a time. We need to focus on shooting, tossing out, boxing out and focus on the second chance shots so that when we play big team we don’t have to worry about these things,” Kalu concluded.

 

Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

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

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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.

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Nigeria’s Rivers Hoopers Advance to 2024 BAL Playoffs

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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 (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)

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

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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.”

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