Hours before the epic final, Al Ahli Tripoli’s Abou Chacra Fouad was named the 2025 Coach of the Year, after masterminding his team’s run to the final, against all odds.
Oliver Ochieng
Libyan side Al Ahli Tripoli are the 2025 Basketball Africa League (BAL) season 5 champions, after crashing Angola’s Petro de Luanda 88-67 in the final, played at the Sunbeat Arena in Pretoria, South Africa on Saturday, June 14.
Al Ahli became the first Libyan side to reach the BAL final and win the title, snatching it from the Angolans in a classic case of debutants dethroning defending champions.
Assemi Marei was on song for Al Ahli, managing 22 points and 18 rebounds, Fabian White Jr. ranked second with 16 points and 8 rebounds, while Jean Jacques Boissy managed 12 points with two rebounds in the final, enough to make him BAL 2025 Most Valuable Player (MVP) after excelling in previous rounds.
“My teammates and the coach pushed me to this level. Every African kid out there can do it,” he beamed.
Al Ahli led 27:19 in the first quarter, before Petro de Luanda won the second quarter 19:16. The Libyans then won the third quarter 23:16, before a 22:13 win in the fourth quarter.
Portuguese, Spanish, English and French languages were most likely spoken on the Petro de Luanda’s bench to try and overturn the deficit, but Al Ahli Tripoli players were so committed to the course and the court, sticking to their game plan for a memorable title triumph.
BAL President Amadou Gallo Fall congratulated the champions as such: “You have done your fans and your country proud.”
The Libyan’s now join the list of Zamalek (Egypt), US Monastir (Tunisia), Al Ahly (Egypt) and Petro de Luanda who won the BAL titles between 2021 and 2024.
Hours before the epic final, Al Ahli Tripoli’s Abou Chacra Fouad was named the 2025 Coach of the Year after masterminding his team’s run to the final, against all odds.
Under his tutelage, the Libyan champions won all 7 games in their 2024 Road to BAL qualifiers, in addition to closing the 2025 BAL Nile Conference undefeated in six games.
To add the icing on the cake, his side reached the 2025 BAL final with an 8–1 record, only losing to Al Ittihad of Egypt.
The 58-year-old Italian-Lebanese basketball tactician led Libya to a successful 2025 AfroBasket Qualifiers campaign, where the North Africans secured their place at the African Championship for the first time since 2009.
Angola will host the 2025 AfroBasket tournament, from August 12-24, 2025.
Fouad is the first Coach of the Year to lead his team to the BAL championship title win.
Other coaches to have been named BAL’s best are:
José Neto (Brazilian), Petro de Luanda – 2022
Paby Gueye (Senegalese), AS Douanes – 2023
Ogoh Odaudu (Nigerian), Rivers Hoopers – 2024
On Friday, June 13, Rwanda’s APR beat Al Ittihad 123–90 to secure third place, setting a league record for the most points scored in a single game.
The Rwandese were led by Axel Mpoyo, who scored 32 points, including 10 three-pointers – setting a BAL record for the most threes in a single game, after surpassing the previous record of 9, set by Will Perry in 2023 while playing for Clube Ferroviário da Beira (CFV – Beira, Mozambique).
Prior to the third-place game, NBA Academy Africa played the South Africa select team, with the Academy registering a narrow 78-74 victory.
NBA Academy Africa’s Ousseynou Sambe led all scorers with 20 points, along with his seven rebounds.
Meanwhile, NBA Africa and South African NGO Rhiza Babuyile launched their first mobile hoops health clinic at Klipspruit Sports Centre in Soweto, South Africa, on June 12, ahead of the BAL third-place and the final games.
The mobile hoops health clinic, featuring a basketball hoop attached to the vehicle, will serve local communities in Gauteng and surrounding areas, while providing youth with an opportunity to play the game during the clinic’s operating hours.
Following the launch, more than 130 boys and girls aged 16 and younger took part in a Jr. NBA clinic, engaging with basketball legends, in the frame of seven-time NBA All-Star Tracy McGrady, two-time NBA All-Star Joakim Noah (ties to Cameroon), 1986 NBA champion Sam Vincent, and former NBA players Olumide Oyedeji (Nigeria) and Pops Mensah-Bonsu (Ghana).
