Basketball: Congolese clubs on top in Central Africa
In the 2024-2025 inter-club qualifiers held in Douala, clubs from DR Congo got the better of those from the other countries
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The Cameroonian city of Douala hosted the Road to BAL for men and the Road to WBLA for women, featuring clubs from Central Africa, from 27 October to 1 November. In total, 10 clubs took part in the two competitions, 5 in each category.
In the men's event, Cameroon, the host nation, fielded Kadji Sport Academy. Also taking part were BC Chaux sport of the DRC, Abeilles BC of the CAR, King Africa of Equatorial Guinea and Moanda BB of Gabon. In the women's event, Cameroon fielded two clubs, FAP and Daniel Batistton Fondation; the DRC also fielded two, BC Makomeno and BC CNSS, while Gabon entered just one club, BC NABA.
Congolese clubs dominate
On their first appearance in a continental competition, BC Chaux Sport impressed by winning all 4 of their 4 games. The Congolese champions first beat Abeilles BC (79-61) before following up with 3 more wins, over Moanda BB (79-76), Kadji Sport Academy (83-78) and King Africa (90-64) respectively, finishing top of Group C in the Road To BAL and qualifying for the Elite 16.
In the women's event, the two Congolese clubs, BC Makomeno and BC CNSS, finished in the top two places, each winning 3 of their 4 games. Both Congolese clubs notably beat the formidable FAP side, ending Cameroon's long dominance of the sub-region, which had lasted several years.
CNSS beat both Cameroonian clubs, Daniel Batistton Fondation (61-55) and FAP (61-38), as well as Gabon's NABA (131-33), but lost the 100% Congolese showdown against Makomeno (46-73).
For their part, BC Makomeno, besides their win over CNSS (46-73), beat FAP (74-72) and NABA (73-38) before losing to Daniel Batistton Fondation (62-52). Both Congolese clubs have qualified for the final phase, scheduled for 6 to 15 December in Dakar.
Kings of Central Africa, Chaux Sport fail to follow it up at the Elite 16
After their impressive run at the Road To BAL in Douala, BC Chaux Sport were widely expected to do well at the Elite 16. But the Congolese champions could not match their Douala form, losing their first two games to Gabon's MDA (65-72) and Stade Malien (65-72) respectively.
Qualification for the semi-finals became very difficult after those two defeats. Needing to win their last game against Ivory Coast's ABC Fighters by at least 25 points, the Congolese managed only a 3-point victory (88-85), seeing their continental run end at the Elite 16, a poorer showing than that of Espoir Fukash, who reached the conference stage in 2022.
Whatever the case, Congolese clubs are back on top in Central Africa.