May 30, 2024

The numbers and facts that separate Cape Town Tigers and Rivers Hoopers – Third-Place Game PREVIEW

The 2024 BAL Third-Place Game scheduled to take place on Friday, May 31 at BK Arena in Kigali reiterates how unpredictable this season has been.

Far from being the highest-ranked teams in the build-up to the BAL Season 4, Rivers Hoopers and Cape Town Tigers contributed massively to the unexpected end of the season.

While Cape Town stunned top-seed FUS de Rabat 91-88 in overtime in the Quarter-Finals - in what many describe as the biggest achievement for any South African team -, Rivers Hoopers scored one more point than Tigers to knock out the 2022 BAL winners US Monastir 92-88 in the Quarter-Finals.

Hoopers and Tigers did everything they possibly could to try to cause the most unexpected Final in BAL history, but both teams came up short in the Semi-Finals, both losing in overtime.

While Rivers Hoopers were outscored 89-83 against Al Ahly Ly, Cape Town Tigers fell to Petro de Luanda 96-86.

Now, the two teams that have never faced off in the BAL, will throw their last blows to take home the bronze medal.

Although Tigers and Hoopers made it to the Third-Place Game of the 2024 BAL season, they experienced two different routes to the postseason, considering their records in the regular season.

Rivers Hoopers won the 2024 Sahara Conference with a 4-2 mark while Cape Town Tigers finished third in the Kalahari Conference, but qualified to the postseason after finishing with one of the best two third-placed teams from across the three conferences.

Ahead of their clash on Friday, Hoopers and Tigers hold a postseason 1-2 record each.

Comparatively, Hoopers have played two more games (9) than the Tigers (7) because of the Dynamo’s disqualification during the Kalahari Conference.

However, based on both teams’ three postseason games so far, figures show that:

Hoopers center Peter Olisemeka averages a league-high 5 offensive rebounds per game.

Hoopers guard Kelvin Amayo averages a team-best of 7 assists per game.

Hoopers guard Will Perry averages a team-high of 18 points per game

Tigers’ guard Samkelo Cele appears as one of the season leading scorers with averages of 21 points (one point fewer than Jo-Lual Acuil Jr.)

The first time Rivers Hoopers played a game that went to overtime in the postseason, the Nigerian champions fell short to Al Ahly Ly, although the Port Harcourt-based team played in the first-ever BAL game to go into a double-overtime during the Sahara Conference against Rwanda’s APR.

Rivers Hoopers average 45 rebounds per game compared to Cape Town’s 38

The Tigers played two overtime games, losing one (against Petro) and winning another (against FUS Rabat).

Rivers Hoopers scored an average of 77 points while giving up 80 points per game.

Cape Town scored an average of 84 points while giving up 90 points per game.

WHAT ARE THEY SAYING ABOUT THE 2024 BAL THIRD-PLACE GAME?

Kelvin Amayo (Rivers Hoopers guard): “The third-place game means a lot to me and to the club itself. Nobody really thought we could get here and we put in a tremendous amount of work, but sometimes the ball just doesn’t drop.”

“I can’t wait to play the third-place game and continue to showcase who we are.”

Flosh Ngwenya (Cape Town Tigers Head Coach): “For us, it’s huge. The fact that we are at this stage of the tournament, it gives everybody hope. What we have done has never been done before by any South African team.”

“The feeling of competing for a podium place, it’s a great feeling.”

Carter Diarra (Cape Town Tigers point guard): “I know for a fact that we are going to come out motivated to play and, may we not have another close game… we’ll definitely be ready.”

The 2024 BAL Third-Place Game will be broadcast live on the bal.nba.com, NBA app, BAL TV partners and The BAL YouTube channel.