2023 BAL Playoffs
Promotional material outside of the BK Arena
Tournament details
CityKigali
Venue(s)BK Arena
Dates21 – 27 May 2023
Teams8
Final positions
ChampionsEgypt Al Ahly (1st title)
Runner-upSenegal AS Douanes
Third placeMali Stade Malien
Fourth placeAngola Petro de Luanda
Tournament statistics
Matches played8

The 2023 BAL Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the 2023 BAL season to determine the champions of the third Basketball Africa League (BAL) season. For a third consecutive season, the playoffs will be hosted in the BK Arena in Kigali.

Al Ahly defeated AS Douanes in the final, for their first-ever BAL title.[1]

Qualified teams

On 16 March 2023, the BAL incorrectly reported that REG became the first team to qualify for the playoffs.[2] US Monastir and ABC Fighters were also reported to have qualified on 20 March.[3][4] However, only on the last day of the Sahara Conference, the final ranking was determined and the four advancing teams were decided based on their head-to-head point difference. Petro de Luanda was the first team from the Nile Conference to qualify.[5]

Sahara Conference

Seed Team Record Clinched
Playoff berth Best record

in conference

1 Mali Stade Malien 3–2 21 March 21 March
2 Senegal AS Douanes 3–2 21 March —
3 Ivory Coast ABC Fighters 3–2 21 March —
4 Rwanda REG 3–2 21 March —

Nile Conference

Seed Team Record Clinched
Playoff berth Best record

in conference

1 Angola Petro de Luanda 5–0 3 May 5 May
2 Egypt Al Ahly 4–1 5 May —
3 Mozambique Ferroviário da Beira 2–3 6 May —
4 South Africa Cape Town Tigers 2–3 6 May —

Bracket

 
QuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinal
 
          
 
21 May
 
 
Egypt Al Ahly94
 
25 May
 
Rwanda REG77
 
Egypt Al Ahly78
 
21 May
 
Mali Stade Malien73
 
Mali Stade Malien78
 
27 May
 
South Africa Cape Town Tigers69
 
Egypt Al Ahly80
 
22 May
 
Senegal AS Douanes65
 
Angola Petro de Luanda88
 
25 May
 
Ivory Coast ABC Fighters84
 
Angola Petro de Luanda86
 
22 May
 
Senegal AS Douanes92 Third place game
 
Senegal AS Douanes93
 
26 May
 
Mozambique Ferroviário da Beira73
 
Angola Petro de Luanda65
 
 
Mali Stade Malien73
 

Games

Quarter-finals

Al Ahly vs. REG

This was the second competitive game between the teams, who last met in the third round of Group C of the 2018–19 Africa Basketball League when Al Ahly won.[6]

After taking a 8–5 lead, REG trailed in the rest of the game to the Egyptian champions Al Ahly. During the third quarter, Al Ahly led by as much as 23 points. Adonis Filer scored a game-high 26 points for REG, while Ehab Amin scored 22 points for the Egyptians.[7]

21 May 2023
16:00
Al Ahly Egypt 94–77 Rwanda REG
Scoring by quarter: 23–18, 23–14, 21–21, 27–24
Pts: Amin 22
Rebs: Amin, Fakuade 6
Asts: Amin 4		 Pts: Filer 26
Rebs: Kambuy Manga 6
Asts: Filer 9
BK Arena, Kigali
Attendance: 6,423
Referees: Marcy Williams, Kalume Tonton Banza, Mbaye Seye

Stade Malien vs. Cape Town Tigers

This was the first competitive game between the two teams.

The Tigers were forced to play without Zaire Wade and Evans Ganapamo, who suffered from injuries. Stade Malien never trailed throughout the game, as they had already built a sixteen point advantage after the first quarter. Import player John Wilkins scored 16 points in the opening quarter. During the third quarter, Stade Malien led by as much as 22 points, but this lead was cut to just two with 41 seconds left on the clock. After this point, the Tigers turned over the ball three times, which were conversed to six points by Malien. Aliou Diarra had a double-double of 18 points and 13 rebounds, his sixth double-double in six BAL games. For the Tigers, it was their second consecutive elimination in the quarterfinals.[8]

21 May 2023
19:00
Stade Malien Mali 78–69 South Africa Cape Town Tigers
Scoring by quarter: 31–15, 17–15, 16–22, 14–17
Pts: Diarra, Wilkins 18
Rebs: Diarra 13
Asts: Foster 7		 Pts: Prinsloo 19
Rebs: Gbinije 13
Asts: Gbinije 5
BK Arena, Kigali
Attendance: 3,632
Referees: Hortencia Sanchez-Carrizales, Jean Sauveur Ruhamiriza, Leslie Cherubin

AS Douanes vs. Ferroviário da Beira

This was the first competitive game between the two teams. AS Douanes defeated Ferroviário to seal its first semi-final appearance.

22 May 2023
17:00
AS Douanes Senegal 93–73 Mozambique Ferroviário da Beira
Scoring by quarter: 28–23, 24–14, 19–15, 22–21
Pts: Fall 23
Rebs: Bryan-Amaning 11
Asts: Ndour 8		 Pts: Gueye 19
Rebs: Gueye 9
Asts: Perry 8
BK Arena, Kigali
Attendance: 2,240
Referees: JD Ralls, Banza Kalume, Sara Elsharnouby

Petro de Luanda vs. ABC Fighters

This was the first competitive game in the BAL between the two teams, and the third meeting ever. They met twice in the FIBA Africa Club Champions Cup, in the semi-final of the 2005 and in the group stage of the 2007.

22 May 2023
20:30
Petro de Luanda Angola 88–84 Ivory Coast ABC Fighters
Scoring by quarter: 23–16, 18–25, 23–22, 24–21
Pts: Morais 18
Rebs: Pedro 8
Asts: Diabate 5		 Pts: Abada 21
Rebs: Three players 3
Asts: Abada 8
BK Arena, Kigali
Referees: Klyde Mulla, Yann Vezo Davidson, Mbaye Seye

Semi-finals

Petro de Luanda vs. AS Douanes

AS Douanes won the semi-final against Petro de Luanda, to become the first Senegalese team to reach the BAL final. Jean Jacques Boissy had 28 points and Chris Crawford scored 26. The Douanes led the majority of the game and won their fifth straight BAL game, after losing their two opening games in the Sahara Conference.

The win for Douanes was widely seen as a "shock" as unbeaten Petro de Luanda were considered the title favourites.[9]

24 May 2023
17:00
Petro de Luanda Angola 86–92 Senegal AS Douanes
Scoring by quarter: 19–20, 26–29, 18–20, 23–23
Pts: Hollis 19
Rebs: Pedro 8
Asts: Pedro 6		 Pts: Boissy 28
Rebs: Crawford 7
Asts: Ndour 5
BK Arena, Kigali
Attendance: 4,554
Referees: Marcy Williams, Jean Sauveur Ruhamiriza, Mbaye Seye

Stade Malien vs. Al Ahly

Al Ahly became the second Egyptian team to advance to the BAL Final, despite trailing by five at the half to Stade Malien. Ehab Amin led the Red Devils with a game-high 21 points. Stade Malien's Aliou Diarra recorded his sixth straight double-double, but was fouled out two minutes before the end of the game.[10]

24 May 2023
20:30
Stade Malien Mali 73–78 Egypt Al Ahly
Scoring by quarter: 17–17, 21–16, 15–25, 20–20
Pts: Amayo 15
Rebs: Diarra 11
Asts: Foster 6		 Pts: Amin 21
Rebs: Amin 6
Asts: Thompson 4
BK Arena, Kigali
Attendance: 6,102
Referees: Klyde Mulla, Jean Sauveur Ruhamiriza, Annie Joyce Muchenu

Third place game

Petro de Luanda played in its second third place game, having won the game in 2021. Stade Malien finished their surprising season by claiming the third place after pushing away from Petro in the final minutes of the game. Aliou Diarra had 25 points and 12 rebounds, his seventh double-double in as many games.

26 May 2023
18:00
Petro de Luanda Angola 65–73 Mali Stade Malien
Scoring by quarter: 15–20, 19–16, 20–14, 11–23
Pts: Morais 15
Rebs: Morais 9
Asts: Morais, Diabate 4		 Pts: Diarra 25
Rebs: Diarra 12
Asts: Three players 5
BK Arena, Kigali
Referees: Hortensia Sanchez-Carrizales, Marie Leslie Cherubin, Mbaye Seye

Final

27 May 2023
18:00
Al Ahly Egypt 80–65 Senegal AS Douanes
Scoring by quarter: 17–10, 21–23, 25–13, 17–19
Scoring by half: 38–33, 42–32
Pts: Omot 22
Rebs: Fakuade 10
Asts: Seif 4		 Pts: Boissy 20
Rebs: Ochereobia 9
Asts: Ndour 4
BK Arena, Kigali
Attendance: 7,532
Referees: JD Ralls, Yann Vezo Davidson, Arnold Moseya

References

  1. ↑ "Al Ahly are the 2023 BAL champions". The BAL. 27 May 2023. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  2. ↑ "How REG secured the first 2023 BAL Playoffs spot". The BAL. 17 March 2023. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  3. ↑ "Bile's heroics send ABC to playoffs". The BAL. 20 March 2023. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  4. ↑ "Randle, Thomas lead Monastir to playoffs". The BAL. 21 March 2023. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  5. ↑ "Petro de Luanda become first Nile Conference team to qualify for the Playoffs". The BAL. 3 May 2023. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
  6. ↑ "REG BBC v Al Ahly boxscore - FIBA Africa Basketball League 2019 - 10 February". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 6 May 2023.
  7. ↑ "SUPERB AMIN, WEBSTER KEY IN AL AHLY'S SEMI-FINALS SLOT". The BAL. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
  8. ↑ "DIARRA'S SIXTH DOUBLE-DOUBLE STEERS STADE MALIEN INTO SEMI-FINALS". The BAL. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
  9. ↑ "AS DOUANES SHOCK PETRO DE LUANDA, ADVANCE TO FINAL". The BAL. 25 May 2023. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  10. ↑ "AL AHLY BECOME SECOND EGYPTIAN TEAM TO REACH THE BAL FINAL". The BAL. 25 May 2023. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
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