NAIROBI (Kenya) - Tanzania's Dar City dominated their Road to BAL East Division Elite 16 third-place play-off from start to finish, eventually beating Mozambique's Ferroviario da Beira 92–77.
This victory leaves Dar City's qualification chances in the balance, as the wild card slot for the 2026 Basketball Africa League (BAL) slot will be decided by the third-place finishers from the two divisions.
Raphiael Putney and Nisre Zouzoua led the team to victory once more, with Putney top scoring with 28 points and adding eight rebounds.
Meanwhile, Zouzoua scored 25 points and completed a double-double with 10 assists. Two other players, Deng Angok Yak Deng and Hasheem Thabeet, added 18 and 17 points respectively.
Solo Diabaté was the top assist provider with 14, four more than Zouzoua, and came three rebounds shy of a double-double.
Dar City led by as many as 23 points in the final quarter. They dominated the boards on defence, winning the rebounding battle 37–24.
However, they were outscored 20–4 on offence and conceded 22 points on second chance opportunities. They were also outdone 36–2 off the bench, but this mattered little as the side coached by Mamadou Gueye dominated in the paint 69–52.
However, it was their 75% two-point shooting against Beira's 43.3% that made all the difference, as Dar struggled with perimeter shooting, converting 6 of 22 against the Mozambicans' 5 of 23.
The East Africans got off to a quick 12-3 start, giving us a glimpse of what was to come in the rest of the match. Dar City ran up the score in the opening quarter, winning 27-12 and sending an early message.
Beira played better in the second quarter, with Joshua Thomas leading the comeback attempt with eight points in a 23-19 outcome, though they still trailed 50-31 at halftime.
Beira continued to fight back, winning the third quarter 25-19, but Dar City sealed the win with a 23-21 final stanza, potentially securing their place in the 2026 BAL.
"Winning this game means a lot. We made history for Tanzanian basketball today. It wasn't the way we wanted to qualify; our plan was to be in the final today, but we made a lot of mistakes in the semi-finals. Despite the little time we had together as a unit, we do not have any excuses for that loss. There were a lot of emotions yesterday, but we learned from that and got the job done today," said Dar City's Solo Diabate.
"It has been a competitive championship, but one from which our team has learnt, even as we exit. We came here aiming to qualify, but every team was strong, and as the qualifiers progressed, we lost our momentum. We will regroup and come back stronger for the next qualifiers, as the experience we have gained here will be invaluable," said Ferroviario da Beira forward Helton Ubisse.
FIBA