River Hoopers Basketball Club emerged champions of the Federal Ministry for Youth & Sports Development (FMYSD) Final 8 after a 74-57 victory over Gombe Bulls 74-57 in the final at the Indoor Sports Hall, Moshood Abiola Stadium in Abuja on Tuesday.

The victory means Hoopers will once again be Nigeria’s representatives at the 2021-22 Basketball Africa League.

The KingsMen trailed by six points (6-12) with 5 minutes into the first quarter but bounced back in the second quarter scoring 36 points to the Bulls’31.

Rivers Hoopers went wild in the second half putting the game beyond reach for Gombe Bulls, as they reduced the latter to just 26 points against 38 points made by Hoopers.

Despite losing Emmanuel Balogun to injury early in the game, Victor Anthony Koko stepped up to help close out the encounter. Koko went off for a double-double 14 points, 10 rebounds, 4 Blocks and 2 steals, capping a man of the match display. 

The trio of Johnson Anaiye (12), Oriakhi Owen (10), and Buchi Nwaiwu (10) combined for 32 points, for the Port Harcourt based side.

Oriakhi Owen was awarded a medal for scoring the highest points in the tournament, he was also included in the championship best five alongside Johnson Anaiye who was crowned the MVP of the tournament.

Earlier, Kano Pillars beat Nigeria Customs 82-64 in the third-place game.

Individual Awards 

Final MVP – Victor Anthony Koko (Rivers Hoopers)

Tournament MVP- Johnson Anaiye (Rivers Hoopers)

Highest Scorer- Owen Oriakhi (Rivers Hoopers)

Highest rebounder- Ben Akhutie (Rivers Hoopers)

Best three-point shooter- Abdulwahab Yakubu

Fair Play award- Kwara Falcons

Tournament top 5 – Johnson Anaiye (Rivers Hoopers), Owen Oriakhi (Rivers Hoopers), Wisdom Anyaoha (Gombe Bulls), Michael Lordprince (Kwara Falcons), Ben Akhutie (Nigeria Customs)