The Basketball Africa League (BAL) has just unveiled the schedule for the quarter-finals of the 2022 edition of the competition, which will take place from May 21 to 28 at the Kigali Arena in the Rwandan capital.
“The top eight teams from the Sahara and Nile Conferences will compete in a knockout stage. The winner will be crowned champion of the second season of the BAL ”, underline the organizers in a press release.
The 2022 BAL playoffs will begin on May 21 with Angolan club Petró de Luanda (4-1) facing AS Salé of Morocco (3-2), while the next match will oppose REG du Rwanda (4-1) to the Cameroonian club FAP (2-3).
The quarter-finals will continue on May 22, pitting Tunisian club US Monastir (4-1) against South Africa’s Cape Town Tigers (2-3), then the defending champion, the Egyptian club de Zamalek (5-0), will challenge the Guinean club SLAC (2-3).
The winners will meet in the semi-finals on May 25 for the chance to advance to the BAL grand final, which will be played on May 28, the statement said.
Discussing the key facts and figures of the season, the organizers say that AS Salé head coach Liz Mills became the first woman to coach a BAL team during the group stage of the Sahara Conference, which was held in Dakar, Senegal, from March 5 to 15. Mills led AS Salé to the playoffs with 3 wins and 2 losses.
Elsewhere, AS Salé number 41 Terrel Stoglin broke the BAL points record with 41 points scored in the 96-90 defeat to US Monastir in the Sahara Conference, beating his own record (40 points) dating from the BAL 2021 group stage. Stoglin is the leading scorer in the group stage, averaging 33.2 points per game.
Four African players are among the best players of the 2022 group stage: Mayan Kiir (Cobra Sport – South Sudan) with an average of 18.8 points, 2.2 assists, 11.4 rebounds and 1 steal per game, Amadou Harouna (AS Salé – Niger) with 19.8 points, 3.6 assists, 4 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game, Rolly Fula Nganga (BC Espoir Fukash – DRC) with 18.4 points, 2.4 assists, 5 .6 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game and Evans Ganapamo (Cape Town Tigers – Central African Republic) with 17.4 points, 2.2 assists, 3.8 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game.
After taking place on a single site last season due to the pandemic, the BAL was contested this year in three emblematic African cities: Dakar, Cairo (April 9-19) and Kigali. This season includes three former NBA players: Jamel Artis (Cape Town Tigers – ex-Orlando Magic), Ike Diogu (Zamalek – ex-San Antonio Spurs) and DJ Strawberry (Zamalek ex-Phoenix Suns).
The result of a collaboration between the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) and the NBA, the Basketball Africa League (BAL) is a new professional basketball league bringing together 12 teams from across Africa. Based in Dakar, Senegal, the BAL is inspired by competitions organized in Africa by FIBA’s Africa Regional Office and marks the NBA’s first collaboration to manage a league outside of North America.
Source:MAP
