Rivers Hoopers have been thrown out of the 2017 FIBA Africa Champions Cup Zone 3 qualifiers on Sunday. This was made known to the club by FIBA Africa Zone 3 during the technical meeting for coaches and officials hours to the commencement of the tournament on Sunday.
It was stated that the Basketball governing body, FIBA, limited the number of teams to represent Nigeria to just 4 teams rather than 5 earlier scheduled. Consequently, Hoopers will play no part in the ongoing FIBA Africa Champions Cup Zone 3 qualifiers and will return to their base on Monday.
Mark Mentors, Civil Defenders, Gombe Bulls and Kano Pillars are the four Nigerian teams in the championship. In total, 6 teams are competing at the ongoing championship which includes ASPAC of Benin republic and Customs of Ghana.
The tournament started on Sunday with just one game between defending champions Kano Pillars and Mark Mentors with Pillars edging it 76-69 points. Action will continue on Monday at 3pm.
