PRAIA (Cape Verde) - Following their 71–69 victory over Moanda Basket on Wednesday, the Spintex Knights are looking ahead to their next challenge.
They will take on Al Ahly Benghazi, who are among the favourites in the West Division Elite 16 to secure one of the two places in the 2026 Basketball Africa League (BAL) season.
Having learned from their experience in last year's qualifiers, the Ghanaian champions say that they now know what to expect and are eager to succeed.
Last year, for example, the Spintex Knights started their Road to BAL campaign with a win, but went on to lose five games in a row and miss out on a place in the BAL.
'It's up to us to come out and fight,' said Spintex Knights head coach Selorm Thomas.
Quitting is not in the Spintex vocabulary, even though the Libyan champions are tipped as favourites.
"I don't think they're much better than us. We are going to give it our all against them," the tactician said of the Libyan champions, Al Ahly Benghazi.
Spintex's vulnerability was exposed after they beat Moanda by just two points, despite leading by as many as 17 points.
However, they admit that overcoming Benghazi will require a high level of concentration.
"Against Benghazi, we have to take care of the ball, stay focused and crash the boards well, because Al Ahly Benghazi have some players who are good at crashing the boards. If we can fight for rebounds, we can win," said James Amotoe, who contributed 13 points and has been fundamental to the team.
"If you want to make it to the BAL, you have to take better care of the ball," Amotoe added.
The coach is also realistic about his team's shortcomings.
"At one point, we lost focus on what we needed to do, and the end result wasn't great, but I'm glad we eventually won. We need to take better care of the ball. We still had the same issues that we faced in the group stage. I thought I was the better player, but I don't think so. These are things that we need to improve on."
For Moanda, who had dispatched their two Group C opponents in Kinshasa, their second straight loss hindered their chances of remaining in contention, as only two teams in the group advance to the semi-finals.
FIBA