Kwara Falcons saw their fading hopes of reaching the playoff round in the Southern Conference of the 2023 Basketball African League (BAL) come to a disappointing end on Saturday.
The Nigerian representatives were knocked out by Sahara Conference hosts AS Douanes following a 75-68 victory at Dakar Arena in the Basketball Africa League (BAL). Kwara got off to a strong start, but the home crowd helped Douanes rally back and they led 41-35 at half-time. By the end of the third quarter, they had pulled away and led 59-47.
Successive blocks by Mouhamadou Diagne had the crowd in a frenzy as Douanes pulled clear early in the fourth quarter, but Kwara's late comeback saw them finish the game with a more respectable scoreline.
The loss marked the fourth consecutive defeats in the competition for the Nigerians in Dakar, Senegal after they started their campaign suffering a heavy defeat to Renew Energy Group (REG) of Rwanda before losing to Stade Malien and US Monastir of Tunisia back to back.
Hopes of redeeming their battered image was dashed by AS Douanes as they lost all the quarters (17-20), (35-41), (47-59) and (68-75) which means they are officially out of the competition.
Despite their unfortunate exit, Michael Oriakhi lamented his side's poor preparation for the competition.
"I think in Nigeria, actually need to play more games in season. The more games you play, the more you get better," Oriakhi said.
"Going back now, we are going to have more games and we should come back now with a better team."
