Rivers Hoopers Beat Nigerian Customs Narrowly

Despite being down by 9 points at halftime, Rivers Hoopers dug deep to grind out a 62-60 win over Nigeria Customs on Monday at the indoor Sports Hall of the National Stadium, Lagos.
In what was Hoopers’ first game of the tournament, Johnson Anaiye went on a shooting spree, with 20 points while  Owen Oriakhi hit a spectacular 14 points for Rivers Hoopers.
The Kingsmen had a rough first half, allowing too many turnovers, giving up 27 points while scoring 18 in the half.
Rivers Hoopers rallied back in the third quarter and went on a 24-13 to go up by (42-40) going to the fourth.
Anaiye made 4/9 from the 3-point range, five rebounds and four steals to go with it.
Customs almost made a late comeback in the game but the Kings Men had done enough to pick their first victory in the final 8.
After the game, Rivers Hoopers head coach Ogoh Odaudu admitted his team had a slow start, stating those mistakes would be corrected in their next game against Gombe Bulls.
“A win is a win, even though I am not so happy, because we didn’t play well, we didn’t do all the things we were supposed to do, it was a hard fought victory for us. We are going to go back to the drawing board and talk about the things we didn’t do right and come back tomorrow to rectify all those issues.”
Top performer Johnson Anaiye believes he was inspired by his team to do well. He also expressed confidence ahead of Hoopers’ next game..