DAKAR, Senegal — Sahara Conference hosts ASC Ville de Dakar (ASCVD) were eliminated from the Basketball Africa League on Sunday evening with a 77-68 defeat to Tunisia’s US Monastir, who sealed their spot in June’s playoffs along with Angola’s Petro de Luanda and Cape Verde’s Kriol Star.
Earlier on Sunday, Petro had secured their playoff place despite a 71-69 . Last month, Al Ittihad and Rivers Hoopers had qualified as the top two teams in the Kalahari Conference in Rabat.
Dakar knew that they needed a win in order to qualify for the playoffs, while a defeat would see them eliminated. Sharpshooting point guard Will Perry certainly got the mandate and had a strong first quarter with 10 points, but Osiris Eldridge had 10 in the same quarter for Monastir to ensure the Tunisian side led 16-15 by its end.
Monastir began the second quarter with a 13-2 run. Makhtar Gueye had a strong quarter, hitting three threes in as many minutes, and he kept ASCVD in the fight as they went into half-time 38-32 down.
The third quarter was a relatively even contest with the teams trading blows from buzzer to buzzer and Monastir maintaining a 53-46 lead heading into the last quarter.
The hosts inched closer in the early stages of the fourth quarter and with 5:56 left, a Perry layup reduced the deficit to 60-56. However, Babacar Sané led an 8-1 run for Monastir, silencing the fans of his home country’s team.
Acknowledging the hurt of the home fans after the game, Sané said: “I wish [ASCVD] qualified, but playing against them was hard.
“I couldn’t do anything but help Monastir, because they signed me to help me qualify and I feel like I’m going to stand on business.”
There was no way back from there for ASCVD and despite Perry’s 20 points and Gueye’s 18, they were outclassed by a better-rotated roster led by Eldridge’s 22.
Despite signing star players such as Perry, Gueye, , Devine Eke and Abdoulaye Harouna, ASCVD were disjointed throughout the tournament.
Despite his superb season for Nigeria’s Rivers Hoopers last year and subsequent NBA Summer League and G League stints, Eke bizarrely saw limited minutes on the floor throughout the tournament under ASCVD coach Libasse Faye. Harouna did not take to the floor at all in Sunday’s game despite playing a key role towards the beginning of the conference.
As a result of Sunday’s late result, Monastir topped the Sahara Conference, with Petro second, Kriol Star third and ASCVD bottom. The top two automatically qualify in each of the three conferences, along with the two best third-placed teams.
Kriol Star have a better record than FUS Rabat, who finished third in the Kalahari Conference, and are thus guaranteed a playoff spot.
FUS can still qualify for the playoffs (June 6-14) if they have a better record than the third-placed team at Kigali’s Nile Conference, which is up next from May 17-25.
The BAL airs on ESPN’s channels in Africa (SuperSport 218 and 219, Starsat 248, and local affiliates).
