Al Ahli Tripoli of Libya and Al Ittihad of Egypt went toe-to-toe in the second game before Al Ittihad emerged victorious in an 85-74 win.
By Oliver Ochieng
The thrilling Basketball Africa League (BAL) playoffs tipped off at SunBet Arena in Pretoria, South Africa, on Friday, June 06, 2025. Cape Verdean side Kriol Star edged past FUS Rabat Basketball of Morocco 91–88 in the playoff opener match.
With Joel Ntambwe on song for Kriol Star, the game ended in an exciting fashion for fans, as he scored a team-high of 22 points. Ivan Almeida posted a triple-double with 18 points, 10 assists, and 10 rebounds, as Jalan McCloud added 21 points.
Speaking to the press post-match, Joel Almeida, Ivan’s brother, said the win only shows that they are resilient as a team.
“We fought a lot,” he said. “The most important thing is that we stay together, and we have a very resilient team,” he added.
Yacine Baeri delivered a team-high 22 points for FUS Rabat, shooting an impressive 7-of-8 from three-point range. His prowess was, however, not enough to deliver the much-needed victory for his side.
FUS Rabat’s Yacine Baeri said they put their best into the game; unfortunately, it was not enough to win them the game.
“This is a lesson for us. We have to fight from the first to the last second.”
Two undefeated teams, Al Ahli Tripoli of Libya and Al Ittihad of Egypt, went toe-to-toe in the second game, with Al Ittihad emerging victorious in an 85-74 win.
Majok Deng led the charge for Al Ittihad with 19 points, while Lual Acuil posted a double-double with 16 points and 14 rebounds.
For Al Ahli Tripoli, Fabian White Jr. delivered a game-high 24 points along with 10 rebounds. Jean Jacques Boissy and Naseim Badrush also contributed with 17 and 16 points each, respectively.
“We faced a great team. They outran us, and we missed shots that we normally make. Losing a game is part of the process. We just need to regroup and improve,” Boissy said.
Al Ittihad’s Kyle Vinales said he is excited to see how much they get better as the games progress.
“Our chemistry is much better than I expected, considering we haven’t played together for almost two months.”
Ahli Tripoli will take on Kriol Star at 4pm, before Al Ittihad face FUS Rabat at 7pm Central African Time (CAT) in the quarterfinals today, Saturday 7.
On the other hand, defending champion Petro de Luanda (Angola) will be up against APR (Rwanda), while 2022 BAL champion US Monastir (Tunisia) will face last year’s semi finalist Rivers Hoopers (Nigeria) on Sunday.
In an earlier presser, NBA Africa CEO Clare Akamanzi said BAL season 5 is already proving to be a period of many records, citing the playoffs and the finals being played in South Africa for the first time, alongside the ever-growing number of fans turning up on the ground and online to watch the matches.
“We also continue to see our business grow. This year, we launched our first e-commerce platform for BAL and now our fans can shop at the BAL store and now fans can shop at the BAL store. It is BAL store.nba.com, and you can get your favorite pieces that you can keep and share with friends and family,” she noted.
The e-commerce platform, she added, is in addition to BAL stores that started in South Africa and are now in Sundown, Johannesburg, Cape Town, and Durban, alongside one in Egypt.
/SPNA
