LEEDS (Julio Chitunda's African Message) - Following the conclusion of the East Division qualifier last week in Kigali, the Basketball Africa League 2020 lineup is now complete, but who were the real winners and losers from the five-day tournament?

And although hosts Patriots Basketball extended their winning streak to nine games to advance to the BAL regular season, and Mozambique champions followed them, Madagascar's GNBC were the biggest winners.

GNBC 

Prior to last week's qualifier, I re-watched some of GNBC games from the preliminary round, and I never thought they would become one of the biggest stories of the entire BAL qualifier process, even though they finished in second place in the East.

Against all the odds, GNBC beat University of Zambia Pacers, Tanzania's JKT before shocking Ferroviario de Maputo in the semifinal. 

Led by the inspiring trio of Elly Randriamampionon, Constant Fabrice Mandimbison and  Andriantsara Ralison, they not only won three out of their five games, but they played as if their lives were in the line.

The Malagasy knew beforehand that they faced a do-or-die tournament in Kigali, but they didn't feel intimidated at all. Despite their relatively short lineup, GNBC managed to rise to the occasion, putting Madagascar's name on the international basketball map.

PATRIOTS BASKETBALL LIVED UP TO EXPECTATIONS

Hosts Patriots Basketball have put on a show. And for a team that registered significant changes from the preliminary round -  with the signing of new head coach Carey Odhiambo and the addition of a few new players -  the Rwandans lived up to the expectations winning all five games. 

Certainly Sedar Sagamba has entered the Patriots history books as the man who avoided what could have been the biggest upset in the qualifier.

With GNBC leading 81-78 in the final four seconds of the game, Sagamba buried the three-pointer that sent the game into overtime, where the Rwandas prevailed.

FANS

Rwanda has become a basketball stronghold in the East part of Africa, and fans showed up in considerable numbers in support of their heroes at the newly-built Kigali Arena. 

There was entertainment and competitive games. While fans may have had good time, credit must be given to the organisation, a good sign as Kigali will host BAL's Final Four in the spring of 2020.

CITY OILERS, KPA OUT OF BAL'S REGULAR SEASON

While Ferroviario, GNBC and Patriots celebrated their achievement, Uganda's City Oilers and KPA ended up in the losing side of the qualifiers.

Tipped as one of the frontrunners in the qualifiers, City Oilers started and finished their Elite 16 campaign with defeats against Ferroviario de Maputo. 

If one tries to find explanations for the Oilers disappointing results, perhaps averaging 24 turnovers in two games against the same opponent reflects how the Ugandas wasted their opportunity to  advance to the regular season.

On the other hand, Kenya's KPA shot themselves in the foot. After winning all their four games in the pre-qualifying round in Madagascar, the Kenyans were in control of their BAL's destiny.

However, they missed their first 'Elite 16' game against City Oilers due to travel arrangements, and despite wins over Ferroviario and Cobra the damage was already done. 

REGULAR SEASON

The BAL regular season, which will take place across six cities (Cairo, Dakar, Lagos, Luanda, Rabat and Monastir) starts in March 2020.

The six cities will host a regular season that will feature 12 teams divided into two conferences, with each conference playing in three cities.

The regular season will see the 12 teams play five games each for a total of 30 games, with the top three teams in each conference qualifying for the playoffs. The six playoff teams – the "Super 6" – will play in a round-robin format to determine the four teams that will advance to the BAL Final Four and BAL Final in Kigali, Rwanda in late spring 2020. The BAL Final Four and BAL Final will be single-elimination games.

Julio Chitunda
FIBA

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