How FUS Rabat let a win slip through their fingers

It was a must-win game that FUS Rabat let slip through their fingers.

Now the Moroccan champions are doing the math to see if they can secure one of the top two spots in the Kalahari Conference to advance to the BAL Finals.

It will be anything but easy.

The fans turned out in force at the Moulay Abdellah Sports Complex, FUS Rabat had a promising start, but when it came down to it, Rivers Hoopers proved stronger and came out on top.

The Nigerian champions battled their way to a 79-71 victory and are now 3-1 while FUS Rabat dropped to 1-3 with two games left.

The reasons for the Hoopers' incredible victory ranged from an admirable tenacity, desperation to stay in the playoff hunt, and a fearless attitude that deserved a praise from FUS Rabat coaching staff.

Raphieal Putney's buzzer-beating three-pointer that cut FUS Rabat's lead to just five points (36-31) at the break proved to be the game-changer, no matter how much the home side tried to shrug it off.

And when Kelvin Amayo tied the game at 64-64 with 4:47 minutes left, and the Hoopers followed it with a 4-1 scoring run to extend their lead to 68-65 the Moroccan champions looked helpless and never led again.

Rivers Hoopers dominated where it mattered most, winning the rebounding battle 54-40, including 23 offensive boards; they held Mike Fofana and Johnathan Jordan to a combined one point in the fourth quarter and most importantly, the Hoopers had more assists (10) in the decisive fourth quarter than they had in the first three quarters (6).

For the third game in a row, Madut Akec led the Hoopers in scoring with 17 points; Kevin Amayo and Putney had 14 points each and Max Munanga and Peter Olisemeka added 13 points each.

Fofana and Yacine Baeri hit three three-pointers each off the bench to finish with 14 and 13 points respectively.

FUS Rabat head coach Said El Bouzidi said: "They were very dominant in the paint and that's mainly because of their physical advantage. Having 13 turnovers and shooting only 50% from the free throw line was not good. We have to focus on our next games and prepare the team better to win and qualify."

Jordan admitted that FUS Rabat did not do their homework. "We didn't execute our game plan. We didn't execute our offense, we had a couple of turnovers late, it was a tough finish for us. We need to do a better job of creating plays for our teammates and making shots down the stretch," he explained.

The 2025 Kalahari Conference resumes on Saturday with FUS Rabat taking on Stade Malien while Rivers Hoopers will face the only unbeaten team in the conference Al Ittihad.