BAL Day 5 recap
Game 1: Union Sportive Monastirienne 96, Association Sportive de Sale 90
US Monastir moved to 3-0 after defeating AS Salé 96-90 on Friday.
Full game:
Radhouane Slimane on Friday reminded everyone why the Sahara Conference is the start of an unfinished business for him and US Monastir.
The Tunisian champions finished second in the inaugural season of the Basketball Africa League (BAL) in 2021 in Kigali, and this season they have self-proclaimed title contenders.
But things weren’t as rosy as they expected against AS Salé on Friday.
And although Monastir extended their winning streak to 3-0 after beating AS Salé 96-90, things could have gone terribly wrong in the last two minutes of the game.
Inspired by Terrel Stoglin and Adboulaye Harouna, the Moroccan champions trailed by as many as 20 points at some point in the game, but managed an incredible comeback.
Harouna and Stoglin combined three 3pts with three minutes into the last quarter to cut the deficit to just three points (71-68).
And AS Sale’s best was yet to come when Harouna finished an easy lay-up off a turnover that gave the Moroccan outfit their first lead of the game (78-77) with 04:40 minutes left.
Monastir Head Coach Modrag Perisic sensed his team’s running out of control, called a timeout, and US Monastir regained control of the game.
“We showed that we are a team of personality, but if we want to win the Championship we can’t give up these many points,” said Slimane who finished with a team-high 24 points.
Miichael Dixon added 22 points, Soleymane Diabate contributed 11 points, and Ater Majok came up with 14 points and 12 rebounds – his third double-double in the Sahara Conference.
While US Monastir moved closer to the playoffs in May, AS Salé dropped to 1-2.
Game 2: Dakar Université Club 92, Rwanda Energy Group 86
Dakar Université Club picked up its first win of the season over Rwanda Energy Group to close out Day 5 action.
Full game:
On the night that Dakar Universite Club (DUC) secured their first win in the Sahara Conference, an unexpected hero rose to the occasion in front of an enthusiastic home crowd.
Adama Diakhite came off the bench to do whatever was necessary to save DUC’s face.
In a game that registered eight lead changes, Diakhite powered DUC with 30 points, 11 rebounds, 2 blocks, 2 steals to help DUC bounce back from two straight defeats and improve their record to 1-2.
Three DUC players – including Hameed Ali, Abel Diop and Bamba Diallo – combined for 40 points.
DUC out-rebounded REG 49-38 and they benefited from a productive bench which outscored REG’s bench 45-22.
“I loved the way he played tonight,” said Diallo.
“Coach was trying to set plays for other players, I said: ‘No. Let him [Diakhite] get the ball because he’s going off. They can’t guard him right now even though he had four fouls.”
REG center Pitchou Manga recognised their defeat in the paint, saying: “One of the reasons we lost tonight was our bigs didn’t do too well.”
DUC’s tireless fans showed up in big numbers, and, the team felt that they had to deliver.
“It was just incredible. Every day they leave their houses to come here and support us, we had to win this game for them. We don’t care who comes next. We are just going to try to win the game,” said DUC Thierno Niang.
“It was a do-or-die game for us. After losing two straight, and come here and get this win, that was big. That means our heard are still above the water. We can still do it.“
Adonis Filer led the way for REG by contributing a team-high 23 points, Dieudonne Ndizeye added 14 points, Cleveland Thomas Jr finished with 16 points and Jean Jacques Nshobozwabyosenumukiza contributed 11 points off the bench.
“We expected them to come out and fight. We didn’t expect an easy game. We’re going back to the hotel, watch film and prepare for our next game,” noted REG Head Coach Robert Pack.
Diallo explained how being 0-2 affected the team’s morale.
“We had a players-only gathering. We had this little talk and we said that this game was the most important games of our lives. If we don’t win it, it’s probably over. You can’t go three losses and try to bounce back. This is a tough competition.
“We needed this one tonight to put ourselves back in the race [for a playoff spot].
“We played a lot of good defense.. We moved the ball and helped us a lot to win this ball game.”
