Liberia league champions and host of the 2010 FIBA Africa Champions Club Zone-3 Qualifiers, UHURU Kings of Monrovia lost its opening qualifiers game against Nigeria league runner-up Royal Hoopers of Port Harcourt by 55-66 on Monday night.
The explosive game began on a rather cautious note with both side trying to study each other with the Nigerian side winning the first quarter by 17-16, the shaky start continued in the second quarter with the quarter ending in a single digit of 09-06 points in favor of the Nigerian who went into the break with a 26-21 points advantage.
Royal Hoopers took a giant leap in the quarter winning by 25-17 points to gain 13-point advantage going into the last quarter, efforts by Uhuru Kings players to rally back in the last quarter could only yield a 17-15 points win for them which was not enough to up-turn the table against the Hoopers who ran away with a 66-55 points.
Nigeria DStv league champion, Kano Pillars will began its quest to defend the Zone-3 title it won last year in Benin Republic when it file out against second placed Liberian side NPA Pythons at 16H00 while Abidjan Basket Club (ABC) take on Swallows of Lomé, Togo at 18H00.