BAMAKO (Mali) – Libya's champions, Al-Ahly Benghazi, extended their winning streak to three games on the final day of the Road to the Basketball Africa League (BAL) Group A tournament in Mali, recording an 86–71 victory over AS Douanes of Burkina Faso. Meanwhile, Centre de Reference de Basketball de Tombouctou (CRBT) of Mali had to maintain their composure to prevail 74–51 against Centre Federal de Guinee (CFG) of Guinea.
Here's how things unfolded in Sunday's Group A action in Bamako, Mali.
Oni leads Al Ahly Benghazi to third straight win
AS Douanes started the game at a fast pace, racing to an early lead and finishing the quarter 27–15, with Koin Traoré and Franck Aymar setting the pace.
In the second quarter, Al Ahly Benghazi fought back, forcing the Burkina Faso champions to slow the pace.
Chudier James Bile and Mohamed Sadi emerged stronger, finishing the second quarter at 14-11 and the first half at 33-29 in favour of AS Douanes.
The second half started strongly for Al Ahly Benghazi, who were not going to give AS Douanes any room, and they kept the pressure on the Libyans. It took minutes before Bile helped Al Ahly to level the scores for the first time in the game at 42–42, but Alassane Bambara responded immediately with a two-point shot to make it 44–42 at 5:23.
Al Ahly took the lead for the first time in the game with a two-point shot inside the paint from a fast-break alley-oop from Miye Oni with two minutes left on the clock. From this moment, the Libyans took charge of the game, going on to finish the third quarter 26–21.
Miye Oni, with an efficiency rating of 19, scored a game-high 19 points, with 7 rebounds and 2 assists, leading the floor in his 29:52 minutes.
Sofian Hamad scored 18 points, Mohamed Sadi scored 10, and Jonathan scored 10, while ASD’s Franck Aymar scored 15 points, with 2 rebounds and 1 assist, leading his side. The other players who scored in double figures were Koin Traoré (11 points), Wendertaka Ouedraogo (10 points) and Hamad Traoré (10 points).
Despite Al Ahly Benghazi committing 17 turnovers compared to AS Douanes's 14, the Burkinabe side could not hold on to secure victory.
Al Ahly Benghazi head coach Ahmed Omar Soliman said: “10 days of preparation is really not enough. Though we are happy for our qualification, we have some days more and we are going to prepare and focus on the Elite 16.”
AS Douanes Coach Kogdoub Yameogo stated that: "We began very well the game and win the first quarter and after we came down because of our physique always. My team is not professional and now we know how the difference is between them and us. We are going to work hard to come back again. Today I am proud of my players.”
Hosts pick move on to the Elite 16
In the second game of the day, Centre Fédéral de Guinée (CFG) started with a 6-0 lead through Idrissa Camara, Mamadou Kaba and Elhadj Bah.
However, Centre de Référence de Basketball de Tombouctou (CRBT)'s Amadou Kaba broke the flow with a two-point layup, and Ibrahim Diallo and Cheickna Dabo caught up at 8-8.
The home side maintained this pace to end the first quarter 21–12, and also the second 26–9.
The third quarter saw CFG fight back hard to regain control at 19–16, but the fourth quarter proved to be the defining moment for CRBT, who kept their cool to win the encounter 74–51.
Bamba Diallo led the CRBT onslaught, finishing with a game-high 26 points, 4 rebounds and 1 assist, while Samba Fall ended the game with 11 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists.
Amadou Kaba earned 9 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists. Cheickna Dabo may not have scored impressively with his four points, but he was marvellous in defence, posting nine rebounds.
CRBT go through to the Elite 16 as the second team in Group B, with a 2–1 record: a 63–54 win against ASD, a 77–66 loss to Al Ahly Benghazi, and a 74–51 win against CFG of Guinea.
Meanwhile, CFG’s Mamadou Kaba led his team with 12 points, seven rebounds and one assist, while Kabinet Kaba had nine points, eight rebounds and one assist.
FIBA