BAL Playoffs: Al Ahly Libya overpower Club Africain to reach semifinals
Al Ahly Libya advanced to the Basketball Africa League (BAL) Playoff semifinals after beating Club Africain on Monday afternoon.
The Libyan side used a strong defensive third quarter in which they held the Tunisian side to just 13 points to all but seal the win.
Donovan Williams and Charles Moore led the offensive charge for Al Ahly with 25 and 23 points, respectively. Majok Deng (15), Assem Marei (11), Lual Lual Acuil (11) and Mohamed Sadi (10) came in handy.
Despite having a quiet game, Oussama Marnaoui finished with a team-high 16 points for Club Africain. Mohammed Aminu (15), Omar Abada (12), Makhtar Gueye (12), Jesse Jones jr (10) and Mohamed Hadidane (10) also scored in double digits.
How the game unfolded
Club Africain had early struggles shooting the ball, but also did not defend particularly well in the first quarter, in which they allowed 30 points. Al Ahly Libya went 11-for-14 from the field and 9-for-10 inside the arc, generating 18 points from the paint.
The start to the second quarter was not any better defensively for Club Africain. While they sealed off the paint, they gave up the 3-point line and Charles Moore and Donovan Williams capitalised. Offensively, Mohammed Aminu started to play bully ball and found success, reducing the lead to single digits and momentum carried on the rest of the period and trailed by just six points (50-44).
Omar Abada opened the third quarter with a trey for Club Africain, who came to within 2 points (52-50) with just under 8 minutes to play, but back-to-back 3-pointers from Moore and Mohamed Sadi midway through the quarter put Al Ahly into a double-digit lead again and Club Africain’s back was broken as the trailed by 16 points (73-57) heading into the fourth quarter.
In the semifinals, Al Ahly Libya will battle the winner of the series between Dar City and former champions Petro de Luanda.
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