RIVERS HOOPERS BACK ON THE WINNING ROAD, THRASH COMETS 92-61 ON DAY FIFTH OF 2026 NPBL

Rivers Hoopers returned to winning ways with a resounding 92-61 victory over Comets BC on day five of phase one of the ongoing 2026 Nigeria Premier Basketball League (NPBL) on Thursday.

The KingsMen, who opened up a 14-point lead when they lost by five points to Hoops & Read on day four, put in a more composed performance aided by clinical shooting to record a fourth win from five games and a second 30-plus point win over Comets.

Chinedu Nwaogu led all scorers with 20 points, 5 rebounds and 3/6 three-pointers made, and Abel Offia contributed 19 points, 5 rebounds and 5/8 three-pointers made as Hoopers knocked down 13 shots from deep.

Anaiye Johnson, who controlled the court, was one assist away from a double-double as she chipped in 11 points, and Duro-Ladipo Olatoye added 12 points in an improved performance that delighted interim coach Ronald Alalibo.

“The players stepped up,” he admitted. “We went back and looked at the things we hadn’t done correctly in our previous game. We made some error corrections and came back strong. We tried to see how we could limit our errors to the bare minimum, and that’s what we did.”

The improvement was evident as six-time champions Nigeria extended a 7-point lead at the end of the first quarter (26-19) to 21 points at halftime (53-32). The lead was extended to 25 points late in the third quarter (72-47) before the KingsMen put up a total of 31 points.

John Idoga, who scored 8 points off the bench, said the improvement in performance was due to the team working to correct their mistakes.

“Today we strengthened our defense. We identified our mistakes from yesterday and today we are able to address them. Tomorrow we will come here, we will play as we know we can, [and hopefully] get the win,” he explained.

The victory, however, was not without sacrifice, as the KingsMen faced the hardship of losing captain Victor Koko to injury 27 seconds into the match. Alalibo praised the quality of his team and the ability of his players to step up in dealing with the veteran center’s absence.

“We are built in such a way that everyone is ready to fill any empty space. If there is a shortage of playing personnel, we have to step up our game, and that’s what we have done,” he stressed.

Rivers Hoopers’ next game will be a rematch against Raptors BC in the final game of Group A of the Atlantic Conference.

The Hoopers beat the Raptors 75-59 on the third day of the 2026 season and, according to Alalibo, will have to maintain the same intensity during Friday’s game.

“We will approach the match with the same mentality. Even though we won today, there are still some things to correct. So let’s keep working.”