What’s at stake on Game-day 2 at the 2024 Sahara Conference?

The 2024 Sahara Conference has lived up to its unpredictability after two relatively surprising wins for APR and Rivers Hoopers on Game-day 1.

In the build-up to Game-day 2, there are two pertinent questions: Which team between APR and Hoopers will remain undefeated? Can US Monastir bounced back and sink AS Douanes to 0-2?

In Sunday’s first game, APR take on the Hoopers with the winner staying as the only undefeated side in the conference with a 2-0 mark.

As we write, Rivers Hoopers and APR share the top of the conference with a win apiece although the Port-Harcourt-based team holds higher point-difference of +9 compared to APR’s +5.

Hoopers and APR have never faced each other before, but both teams showed on the opening of the conference on Saturday why Sunday’s clash could go to the wire.

APR never threw in the towel despite trailing US Monastir by 6 later in the fourth quarter, and nothing epitomized their resiliency better than Noel Obadiah’s three-point tying the game 78-78 that sent the game to overtime where they upset the 2022 BAL champions.

What makes APR a tough team to play against, head coach Mazen Trackh said before their first game, is that the core of their team has basically been together since December 1.

“We didn’t add any players from the local league whereas the previous years, four, five six players from other teams were joining the team, trying to put together an All-Star team, and that’s much harder, but that’s not the case with this team.”

Rivers Hoopers upset hosts AS Douanes, a sign of what head coach Ogoh Odaudu has highlighted upon their arrival in Dakar.

“We have trusted and tested guys.. I think we are going to make some noise this time around,” the former Nigeria national team point guard said.

Indeed, Odaudu’s Hoopers have looked competitive and fought for every possession against AS Douanes as if it were a Championship Game.

He later said they will implement the same mindset against APR.

“We are going to approach that game with the same ideology that we approached this game with. We are going to play like a team. Hopefully, at the end of the day, we go home with a victory too,” Odaudu observed.

One weapon that Odaudu will rely on is point guard Will Perry who came up with a 15-point performance against AS Douanes.

Perry, who is in his third BAL season and has recently played in the Rwandan league, is confident that they can overcome APR.

Perry said: “I just played APR a month and half ago with my local team Patriots in the Rwandan league and we won. Let’s see if we can do it again.”

There will be a rematch in Sunday’s second game, when hosts AS Douanes take on US Monastir, two teams chasing their first wins of the season.

When the two sides faced off last year, AS Douanes came up on top 76-60, a resulted that eliminated the then defending champions US Monastir from playoff contention.

“We are four games. Every single game matters; we are going to take one game at a time,” said head coach Mohamed El Kerdani.