ABIDJAN (Cote d'Ivoire) - Jeunesse Club d'Abidjan dispatched Benin's Elan Coton 69-39 on Saturday to take a commanding lead in Group B of the 2025 Road to BAL. In the day's first game, Spintex Knights bounced back to revive their Elite 16 aspirations alive.
Here's a look at Saturday's events in Abidjan.
Unstoppable Jeunesse Club d'Abidjan take the lead in Group B
The hosts sent an early statement out, with a 17-0 scoring run before Elan Coton scored their first two points through a Haky Adamou layup.
They defeated Elan Coton 69-30 to top Group B with a 2-0 mark.
Mahamane Coulibaly, Ulrich Kra and Mike Yayo - the only Jeuness Club d'Abidjan to score in double digits - combined for 35 points.
Jean Patrick Dongmo led Elan Coton with 10 points. The Beninese dropped to 1-1 with a game left in Group B.
Spintex Knights bounce back, keep Oilers winless
It was a must-win encounter for both teams, and it lived up to the hype. LPRC Oilers caused Spintex Knights all sorts of trouble before the Ghanaian champions prevailed with a final score of 68–58.
Spintex Knights' forward James Amotoe was outstanding, shooting 4-for-5 from deep to top the scoring charts with 21 points.
In contrast, the Oilers shot poorly from the arc, only hitting four of their 30 attempts. To make matters worse, they had to rely on their bench to stay in contention, with Anthony Quadri and Lassina Sidibe leading the team in scoring with 11 points apiece.
There were seven lead changes and the Oilers had a commanding lead for most of the second and early third quarter, reflecting their desperation to relaunch their chances of reaching the Elite 16 round.
Spintex Knights improved to 1–1, while the Oilers lost their second consecutive game and remain winless, with one game left in Group B on Sunday.
In the final of the 2025 Road to BAL Group B, Spintex Knights will play Elan Coton, while Jeuness Club d'Abidjan will play the Liberian side, LPRC Oilers.
FIBA