NPBL: Rivers Hoopers beat Gritty Raptors to extend winning streak

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The Rivers Hoopers registered their third consecutive victory in Phase I of the ongoing 2026 Nigeria Premier Basketball League (NPBL), with a comfortable 75-59 win over Atlantic Conference Group A opponents, Raptors BC, on Tuesday afternoon.

Team captain Victor Koko led all scorers with 16 points but was one rebound away from a double-double. John Idoga contributed 13 points, 6 assists and 5 steals, while Victor Sunday added 11 points as at least three KingsMen reached double figures for the third straight game.

After an opening quarter that saw the Rivers Hoopers leading 22-10, the Raptors bounced back to take the lead in the second quarter with a score of 19-17, while the halftime score was 39-29 in favor of the KingsMen.

The Hoopers rallied to take a 21-point lead midway through the third quarter, but the Raptors rallied with a 16-10 run in the final five minutes to set up an intense fourth quarter.

The KingsMen were able to take the quarter (16-12) thanks to an improved defensive performance, and Eric Okechukwu, who had a solid shift with 8 rebounds, attributed it to a concerted team effort.

“We had several arguments during our timeouts,” he explained. “We had to come together to figure out the loopholes and what we weren’t doing well. We figured that out and decided to distribute the ball more, not play individually, and then we were able to use our options to our advantage.”

Okechukwu was one of five players who were not among the starters but made valuable contributions, as the bench scored an impressive 42 points (56%).

However, unlike previous games, the KingsMen gave away 18 turnovers, much to the chagrin of Ronald Alalibo.

“Today our performance was sub-standard. Even though we won, there were some things we didn’t do correctly. We made some unforced errors and that came down to our attitude towards the match.” [today],” he said.

Next up for Rivers Hoopers is a rematch with Hoops & Read, and despite posting a dominant 84-58 win over the same opponents on the first day of play, Alalibo thinks his team needs to redouble their efforts to secure the win.

“We just need to improve our first approach,” he said. “It’s quite difficult to play against the same team twice because they would approach the match with a different mentality, having studied your team since the first match. We are also aware of this and will find ways to improve our performance compared to the last match against them.”

The matchday four match between Rivers Hoopers and Hoops & Read will take place on Wednesday, May 20 at the Obafemi Awolowo Stadium, Ibadan.