BAL 6: Tops and flops of the Sahara Conference

After the matches played, some teams impressed and others were very disappointing. Sport News Africa unveils its Sahara Conference tops and flops at the Basketball Africa League.

Tops
Al Ahly (Egypt)

Al Ahly confirmed his status. The Egyptian club finished leader of the Sahara Conference held in Rabat with a record of 4 wins and one loss. The team started this new campaign by losing by a narrow margin (68-69) to Club Africain. After this setback, she won 4 matches against ASC Ville de Dakar (76-72), Maktown Flyers (89-80), JCA Kings (85-65) and FUS de Rabat (77-71) after double overtime.

To achieve this excellent course, Al Ahly was able to rely on his very strong individualities. Kevin Murphy is the top scorer with an average of 20.7 points per game. Zack Lofton set a record for the most points in a Sahara Conference match with 32 against JCA Kings. Jonathan Jordan is the playmaker, essential in the fluidity of the game for the Cairo club. 

Club Africain (Tunisia)

For its first participation in the BAL, the African Club was impressive. The Tunisian team won almost everything on their way. Only FUS de Rabat was able to beat her (68-71) in this group stage.

The African Club was the first team to validate its ticket for the Final 8 after three victories in as many outings. He won against ASC Ville de Dakar (85-79), Al Ahly (69-68), the JCA Kings (79-74) after extra time and Maktown Flyers (86-77). 

The strong men of  Club Africain were Oussama Marnaoui, who scored the three decisive points in the victory against Al Ahly, Omar Abada, the best passer of the Conference with an average of 8 passes per match, Jesse Jones Jr. (19 points per match on average), Aminu Mohammed, important rebounds (5 rebounds on average per game).

ASC City of Dakar (Senegal)

After a very shy start with two defeats, ASC Ville de Dakar woke up and made it to the full in the three remaining matches to qualify for the Final 8. Dakar’s club have won 3 consecutive games and finished third at the Sahara Conference, beating the FUS de Rabat despite having the same record of 3 wins and 2 losses. 

Arrived in Rabat with ambitions, the ASC Ville de Dakar suffered defeats against Club Africain (79-85) and Al Ahly (72-76). After that, the team had a clear round. Samba Dali Fall rang the revolt against FUS Rabat with a victory with 4 seconds left (67-66). Then, the team from Dakar beat (83-75) JCA Kings and finally Maktown Flyers 79-62. A last success that secures his place in the top 8 of the Playoffs. 

Samba Dali Fall, who scored 20 points in the first match against Club Africain and produced the decisive basket against FUS Rabat, Solo Diabaté, who was able to dictate the tempo of the matches, Axel Toupane, who embodied aggressiveness, and Alter Majok, protector of the circle, played major roles. They weighed in the balance for the qualification of ASC Ville de Dakar in the Final 8. 

Flops
JCA Kings (Côte d'Ivoire)

A Moroccan campaign that was quickly forgotten by the JCA Kings. The Ivorian team was very nervous and could not hold their own against any opponent. 6 matches, 6 defeats and the Ivorian team enters the circle of clubs that have not won a single match in the BAL Conference. These are the AS Police (Mali, 2021), the GSP (Algeria, 2021), the GNBC (Madagascar, 2021), the Kwara Falcons (Nigeria, 2023), the Malian Stadium (Mali, 2025), the JCA Kings (Côte d'Ivoire, 2026) and the Johannesburg Giants (South Africa, 2026). 

The level was very high for Stéphane Konaté’s players. The team was defeated by FUS Rabat (55-85), Club Africain after extra time (74-79), Al Ahly (65-85), ASC Ville de Dakar (75-83) and Maktown Flyers (67-88).

"It’s disappointing to come home without a win, because we are a group of talented young players who strive for excellence. Losing our five matches means we have to review our strategy and analyze what didn’t work. Our goal now is to go home, make changes, then come back in BAL and demonstrate all our potential. What went wrong? You can’t blame one person in particular; the mindset of this group is to win and lose together. Every member of this team is responsible for that outcome," 

said JCA Kings winger Babatunde William. 

Despite this campaign, a few JCA Kings players have distinguished themselves positively. Kenyon Duling, who scored 21 points against the Club Africain, Mouhamamou Diagne, performing under the circles with notably 14 rebounds in the first match against FUS.

Maktown Flyers (Nigeria)

Maktown Flyers also stops at the Sahara Conference. The Nigerian team was unable to achieve this feat. She came across as stronger than herself every time. After 4 consecutive losses, the Flyers got their first win of the tournament against JCA Kings (88-67).

With a meager record of one win and four losses, the Flyers still showed good things. Nigerians deserved better. They could have beaten Al Ahly in Match 2, having led for most of the game. Because of the lack of bench depth and its empty runs, especially at the end of the third quarter, they were beaten 80-89.

Although the Flyers were eliminated, Al-Wajid Aminu was able to get away with it. The American leader was the team’s best scorer. He nearly broke the record for points in a match.