Rivers Hoopers Center Victor Anthony shone like a million stars as he led the two-time league champions past Lagos Islanders for a fourth straight win in the ongoing NBBF President Cup in Ilorin on Thursday.
Anthony scored 18 points and 17 rebounds in Hoopers 66-56 win over Lagos Islanders in a nail-biting encounter. He also added five assists, three steals and four blocks to go with it.
The former Warriors player led at both ends of the court and bullied the offensive boards with 11 rebounds to his name. He made 2/2 from the line and 8-of -19 from the field in 31 minutes.
Solomon Ajegbeyi also recorded a double-double, the second in two consecutive games in the competition. Ajegbeyi shot 11 points, 14 rebounds and added one assist, two steals and three blocks in 29 minutes. Abdul Yahaya got off the bench to score 10 points, 4 rebounds and one assist.
For Islanders, Ifeanyi Ebuka finished with a game high 21 points, four rebounds, one steal and two blocks while Tolani Buhari had seven assists and eight points.
Islanders made Rivers Hoopers work for every point in the paint while forcing them to commit 20 turnovers in the game. Although, they shot nine points off Hoopers’ turnovers, the Port Harcourt club got 23 off 23 turn overs made by the Lagos team.
The Ogoh Odaudu-tutored team also earned 19 second chance points against their opponents’ 8 from 33 offensive rebounds made in the game.
With 5 minutes remaining, Islanders made a 7-0 run to reduce the 10 point gap to 3 points but Hoopers rallied back to score 16 points as they inflicted a first loss on Islanders in the competition.
Rivers Hoopers will play their last game of Group A against Nigeria Army Rockets on Friday.
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