JOHANNESBURG (South Africa) - The Elite 16 Road To BAL Division East qualifiers gets underway on Tuesday morning at the Ellis Park Arena in Johannesburg.

The race for the last slots for the Basketball Africa League (BAL) Season 3 will run from Tuesday, November 22 until Sunday, November 27.

The eight teams are divided into two groups of four teams each.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE ROAD TO BAL EAST DIVISION ELITE 16 GAMES.

The eight teams in this competition are aware that by the end of group stages and knockout phase, only three teams will have the opportunity to qualify for next year's BAL tournament.

Host club Cape Town Tigers are in Group A with Burundi's Urunani, Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) and the NBA Academy.

Group B comprises of Ferroviario da Beira (Mozambique), Matero Magic (Zambia), City Oilers (Uganda), and  Club Omnisports Police Nationale (COSPN) from Madagascar.

The Tigers, who have home court advantage are Group A favourites and will look to improve on their third-place finish in last year's Road To BAL qualifiers.

There have been some changes in the Tigers in terms playing personal, with the likes of Raphiael Putney, Michael Gbinije, Dhieu Dhie and Skhumbuzo Mthembu joining the team this year.

Captain Pieter Prinsloo, shooting guard Evans Ganapamo, Nkosinathi Sibanyoni and Lebesa Selepe have been retained and will provide continuity for the Tigers.

Urunani will come to the qualifiers having made a few additions to their squad. Center Adjehi Baru has been retained from the preliminary qualifiers, while former Rwanda Energy Group guard Adonis Filer and Puerto Rican Timajh Parker-Rivera have been signed for Urunani's Elite 16 campaign.

KPA look like they will retain most of the team that did duty for them in their preliminary qualifiers in Madagascar. They will, however, have to make do without forward Okall Koranga, who has moved on to the Middle East.

American duo Chris Brady and George Williams have been added to KPA, while Wade Lowman and Tony Townsend have left. 

In Group B, Mozambique's Ferroviário Da Beira are most likely to be the top team. Beira will have a bounce in their step after annexing the domestic title.

The Mozambican champions have kept most of their core that did battle for them at this year's BAL.

Point guard Will Perry is back with team and Michael Murray is a new inclusion to the Beira squad. Beira will look to replicate last year's Elite 16 4-0 record that saw them qualify for the BAL.

Madagascar's Club Omnisport de La Police National are a team that can hold their own against any opposition. They will be out to prove Malagasy basketball is steadily on the rise.

They do not have much height and will rely more on fast breaks and shooting in space at the Elite 16.

Uganda's City Oilers are more than capable of upsetting the odds at these qualifiers.

The Oilers made hard work of qualifying for the preliminaries in Tanzania. But they eventually got the job done with limited depth in their squad.

Mandy Juruni's team look solid with veterans like James Okello and Tonny Drileba leading the way. Germaine Roebuck Jr is a explosive guard, who give the Oilers an edge in attack.

Zambia's Matero Magic are again wild card entrants. They will look to give a better showing at this Elite 16 after going 0-3 in the preliminary qualifiers in Tanzania.

FIBA