Saturday, May 6
*Cape Town Tigers (South Africa) 80-70 City Oilers (Uganda)
*Al Ahly (Egypt) 80-70 SLAC (Guinea)
Table
- Petro De Luanda 🇦🇴 5-0
- Al Ahly 🇪🇬 4-1
- CFV Beira 🇲🇿 2-3
- Cape Town 🇿🇦 2-3
- SLAC 🇬🇳 1-4
- City Oilers 🇺🇬 1-4
City Oilers have missed a chance to qualify for the Basketball Africa League playoffs after defeat against Cape Town in Cairo, Egypt.
In their last group game on Saturday, the Oilers needed a win to squeeze into the top four.
But it’s the South African giants who reigned supreme in a win-or-go-home affair.
And the Oilers finish the group with just one win from five games, with the victory coming against CFV Beira of Mozambique on Friday.
Watch the highlights:
Falando Jones scored a team-high 27 points for the Oilers but none of his teammates reached double digits in scoring.
But the Oilers suffered a big blow before halftime after Germaine Roebuck picked up an injury that ruled him out of the entire game.
A couple of Oilers players failed to come to the party including star player James Justice who was double-teamed on each of his possession down the stretch and shot an ugly 1-of-10 from three.
William Ngor Barnaba had just one point to his name and had his minutes on court limited after a poor campaign throughout.
The Oilers were on the back-foot and played catch up for the best part of the game, but were level 37-37 at the long break.
They continued to trade blows with the Tigers and Jimmy Enabu’s driving lay up tied the game 67-67 midway through the last quarter.
But successive three point jumpers from Nigerian Michael Gbinije created day light, and the Tigers did just enough to close down the game.
Cape Town Tigers Complete BAL Playoffs Lineup
Just like the Oilers, the Cape Town Tigers also needed a win to storm the BAL playoffs.
The Tigers came into Saturday’s clash the favourites having beaten the Oilers in November last year during the Elite 16 in Johannesburg.
And they had the pedigree, as the side had reached the 2022 BAL Quarterfinals Playoffs before they were stopped by eventual champions US Monastir.
But against the Debutants Oilers, the Tigers had to do it without Zaire Wade (son of former NBA star and hall of famer Dwayne Wade), Evans Ganapamo and and Joshua Hall.
But Samkelo Cele (28), Pieter Prinsloo (18) and Michael Gbinije (18) scored in double digits to help the Tigers book the last ticket to BAL playoffs.
The playoffs, due May 21-27, will be held at the BK Arena in Kigali, Rwanda for the third consecutive season.
The top four teams from the Nile Conference group – Petro De Luanda, Al Ahly, CFV Beira and Cape Town – will face off with the best four from the Sahara group.
BAL Quarterfinals Playoffs
•Al Ahly (Egypt) Vs REG (Rwanda)
•Stade Malien (Mali) Vs Cape Town Tigers (South Africa)
•AS Douanes (Senegal) Vs CFV Beira (Mozambique)
•Petro De Luanda (Angola) Vs ABC Fighters (Ivory Coast)
