The runners-up of last year’s BAL outrebounded DUC 45-33, scored 34 of their 74 points near the basket to cover the absences of influential Souleymane Diabaté and Michael Dixon
Monastir Head Coach Modrag Perisic attributed his short-handed team’s 74-62 win over Dakar Université Club (DUC) to a tremendous team effort, but the way Ater Majok and Firas Lahyani impacted the game can’t be overlooked.
The pair proved too much for DUC on Saturday to help US Monastir cruise to the Basketball Africa League (BAL) playoffs unscathed in four games in the Sahara Conference.
Majok paced the Monastir-based team with 20 points and 13 rebounds – his fourth double-double in as many games – he protected the rim with four blocks while Lahyani was 8-for-10 from shooting to finish with 19 points and eight rebounds.
Although DUC home fans showed up again to boost the ‘students’ morale against a tough opponent, there was little they could do as US Monastir dominated and decided the game in the painted area.
The runners-up of last year’s BAL outrebounded DUC 45-33, scored 34 of their 74 points near the basket to cover the absences of influential Souleymane Diabaté and Michael Dixon.
Monastir were abysmal from behind the arc shooting 4 for 24, but even so they led by 15 – their largest lead of the game – in the fourth quarter.
Before fouling out later in the fourth quarter – after receiving a technical foul – Bamba Diallo was the man keeping DUC in the game.
Diallo scored 12 of his team-high 19 points from beyond the arc and had three assists.
Hameed Ali and Adama Diakhité – DUC’s leading scorers – combined for 29 points, but DUC’s bench could only contribute six points against Monastir bench’s 23.
Monastir not only extended their winning streak to 4-0, but they also became the first team from the Sahara Conference to qualify for the playoffs in May in Kigali.
Mokthar Ghayaza, who made his presence felt in the paint and contributed 13 points, later talked to the bal.nba.com. He explained the importance of the win against DUC: “We still have one more game to win. The team’s morale is great.”
“We came here to achieve this result. We have worked very hard, and we look forward for the playoffs in Kigali.”
Asked to elaborate about Monastir’s progress in recent times, Ghayaza replied: “When we first started this tournament the chemistry wasn’t as good, but right now we are working as a unity, and that’s really important for our goals. For example, we had three players injured, but others were able to step up.”
DUC forward Cheikh Faye recalled that they did everything they could to win the game: “We competed until the last few minutes of the game, but things didn’t go our way. We will be ready to beat AS Salé. It’s that simple.”
DUD Head Coach Parfait Adjivon stressed that “it’s really important to win the last game.”
“We didn’t expect to be in this position with one game left. Prior to the tournament we thought that we could beat teams like SLAC, Beira and REG, but this is what this tournament is all about.”
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