The Sahara Conference of the 2023 BAL season was played from 11 March to 21 March 2023 and was hosted in the Dakar Arena in Dakar, Senegal for a second straight season in a row. In a group of six teams, all team played each other one time. The top four teams in the standings advanced to the 2023 BAL Playoffs.
REG were the defending Sahara Conference champions, having won the 2022 Conference. The defending champions US Monastir, who won the 2022 BAL Finals, were unable to qualify for the playoffs. Five teams finished with a 3–2 record, which meant head-to-head point difference decided the ranking. Stade Malien ended up as Conference winners.
Standings
edit| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | PCT | Qualification | SML | ASD | REG | ABC | USM | KWA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Stade Malien
|
5 | 3 | 2 | 378 | 361 | +17 | .600[a] | Advance to playoffs | — | — | 84–64 | — | 68–78 | — | |
| 2 |  AS Douanes (H)
|
5 | 3 | 2 | 350 | 331 | +19 | .600[a] | 74–58 | — | — | 70–76 | — | — | ||
| 3 |  REG
|
5 | 3 | 2 | 356 | 344 | +12 | .600[a] | — | 69–55 | — | — | 79–84 | 64–48 | ||
| 4 |  ABC Fighters
|
5 | 3 | 2 | 389 | 390 | −1 | .600[a] | 71–90 | — | 73–80 | — | 90–74 | — | ||
| 5 |  US Monastir
|
5 | 3 | 2 | 381 | 388 | −7 | .600[a] | — | 60–76 | — | — | — | 85–74 | ||
| 6 |  Kwara Falcons
|
5 | 0 | 5 | 341 | 381 | −40 | .000 | 74–78 | 68–75 | — | 76–79 | — | — |
Games
edit11 March
editABC Fighters won the opening day match-up with hosts AS Douanes, behind Abdoulaye Harouna who made his team debut with 25 points. It was the second consecutive year that a Senegalese club lost the home opener in Dakar, after DUC lost in the 2022 season opener.[1]
11 March 2023
16:00 |
| AS Douanes |
70–76 | ABC Fighters |
| Scoring by quarter: 14–25, 17–18, 17–15, 22–18 | ||
| Pts: Stoglin 21 Rebs: Maluach 9 Asts: Crawford, Ndour 4 |
Pts: Harouna 25 Rebs: Obekpa 9 Asts: Obekpa, Robinson 5 | |
12 March
editUS Monastir opened their 2023 season with a win, while they gave up 21 turnovers against Stade Malien. Souleymane Berthe, the 22-year old starting forward of Stade Malien, scored 34 points in his BAL debut.[2]
12 March 2023
14:00 |
| REG |
64–48 | Kwara Falcons |
| Scoring by quarter: 16–9, 15–20, 24–8, 9–11 | ||
| Pts: Graham 16 Rebs: Graham, Kambuy Manga 12 Asts: Filer 8 |
Pts: Adekoya 15 Rebs: Monyyong 7 Asts: Monyyong 4 | |
12 March 2023
17:30 |
| Stade Malien |
68–78 | US Monastir |
| Scoring by quarter: 15–23, 22–21, 12–16, 19–18 | ||
| Pts: Berthe 34 Rebs: Diarra 14 Asts: Keita 3 |
Pts: Randle 18 Rebs: Thomas 10 Asts: Randle 7 | |
14 March
editStade Malien won their first-ever BAL game behind Aliou Diarra, who had 23 points, 14 rebounds and 5 blocks against the Falcons. Kwara Falcons' 17-year old Modou Fall Thiam impressed by scoring 11 points off the bench.[3]
14 March 2023
16:00 |
| Kwara Falcons |
74–78 | Stade Malien |
| Scoring by quarter: 15–18, 16–18, 18–28, 25–14 | ||
| Pts: Wilson 19 Rebs: Mohammed 8 Asts: Mordi 5 |
Pts: Diarra 23 Rebs: Diarra 14 Asts: Three players 3 | |
The Rwandan champions REG had no trouble with AS Douanes and was reported by the BAL to be the first team to clinch their spot in the 2023 BAL Playoffs; however this turned out to be incorrect.[4]
14 March 2023
19:30 |
| ABC Fighters |
73–80 | REG |
| Scoring by quarter: 20–17, 24–20, 19–26, 11–17 | ||
| Pts: Konaté 16 Rebs: Obekpa 11 Asts: Konaté 6 |
Pts: Filer 25 Rebs: Graham 10 Asts: Thomas 6 | |
15 March
edit15 March 2023
16:00 |
| US Monastir |
85–74 | Kwara Falcons |
| Scoring by quarter: 20–17, 23–20, 23–18, 28–20 | ||
| Pts: Thomas 22 Rebs: Lahyani 10 Asts: Randle 8 |
Pts: Ezeh 22 Rebs: Monyyong 9 Asts: Mordi 6 | |
15 March 2023
19:30 |
| REG |
69–55 | AS Douanes |
| Scoring by quarter: 25–12, 17–12, 15–12, 12–19 | ||
| Pts: Nshobozwabyosenumukiza 14 Rebs: Nshobozwabyosenumukiza 10 Asts: Thomas 6 |
Pts: Crawford 17 Rebs: Crawford 9 Asts: Stoglin 5 | |
17 March
editABC Fighters stunned the favoured defending champions Monastir, behind a game-high 33 points from Abdoulaye Harouna. They ended Monastir's 5-game winning streak lasting from March 2022.[5]
17 March 2023
16:00 |
| ABC Fighters |
90–74 | US Monastir |
| Scoring by quarter: 21–27, 20–9, 17–18, 32–20 | ||
| Pts: Harouna 33 Rebs: Obepka 9 Asts: Harouna, Fofana 3 |
Pts: Randle 25 Rebs: Thomas 10 Asts: Randle 5 | |
After Stade Malien led 17–16 in the first quarter, AS Douanes never trailed and led by as many as 20 points (66–46) in the fourth quarter. Chris Crawford led Douanes with a game-high 21 points. The league's all-time leading scorer, Terrell Stoglin, did not play.[6]
17 March 2023
19:30 |
| AS Douanes |
74–58 | Stade Malien |
| Scoring by quarter: 21–17, 12–12, 14–13, 27–16 | ||
| Pts: Crawford 21 Rebs: Ndiaye 8 Asts: Ndour 5 |
Pts: Berthe 17 Rebs: Diarra 14 Asts: Mamadou Keita 4 | |
18 March
edit18 March 2023
14:00 |
| Stade Malien |
84–64 | REG |
| Scoring by quarter: 22–12, 15–20, 23–17, 24–15 | ||
| Pts: Berthe 23 Rebs: Diarra 16 Asts: Amayo 6 |
Pts: Filer 19 Rebs: Chomche 9 Asts: Thomas 10 | |
18 March 2023
17:30 |
| Kwara Falcons |
68–75 | AS Douanes |
| Scoring by quarter: 17–20, 18–21, 12–16, 21–16 | ||
| Pts: Ezeh 12 Rebs: Mordi 7 Asts: Mordi 4 |
Pts: Boissy 22 Rebs: Diagne 6 Asts: Crawford 6 | |
20 March
editThe game was a re-match of the 2022 Sahara Conference, when REG beat Monastir and won the conference. Monastir led by as much as 21 points in the third quarter, before a come back by REG cut the lead to just five points with two minutes left on the clock. After three turnovers, Monastir won the game and qualified for the playoffs. Cleveland Thomas of REG scored 38 points, after shooting 13-for-21 from the field, the second most in BAL history.[7]
Kwara Falcons, already eliminated, was competitive against the ABC Fighters. The Fighters won the game after back-to-back three pointers by their South Sudanese guard Chudier Bile. As a result, they were the second team to successfully qualify for the playoffs.[8]
20 March 2023
16:00 |
| Kwara Falcons |
76–79 | ABC Fighters |
| Scoring by quarter: 19–23, 14–18, 21–20, 22–18 | ||
| Pts: Wilson Jr. 15 Rebs: Mordi 14 Asts: Mordi 6 |
Pts: Bile 24 Rebs: Obekpa 7 Asts: Robinson 5 | |
20 March 2023
19:30 |
| REG |
79–84 | US Monastir |
| Scoring by quarter: 10–25, 20–13, 16–25, 33–21 | ||
| Pts: Thomas 38 Rebs: Graham, Ndizeye 7 Asts: Thomas 4 |
Pts: Randle 32 Rebs: Thomas 7 Asts: Five players 3 | |
21 March
editStade Malien, still unqualified at the time, dominated ABC Fighters as they led by as much as 27 points late in the fourth quarter (84–57). Aliou Diarra recorded his fifth double-double in five games, with 22 points and 10 rebounds.[9]
Ahead of the final game of the Sahara Conference, US Monastir was on top of the table with a 3–1 record. However, hosts AS Douanes convincingly defeated Monastir behind Chris Crawford's 28 points (of which 22 points were scored in the first quarter); this led to a tie between five teams. Because of the wide margin of victory, US Monastir finished with the lowest point difference in matches against the tied teams and was eliminated, the first reigning BAL champion to miss the playoffs.[10] The victory also meant that Douanes would finish second, and Stade Malien, in fourth position in the beginning of the day, finished as Conference winners.[11]
21 March 2023
16:00 |
| ABC Fighters |
71–90 | Stade Malien |
| Scoring by quarter: 10–18, 18–25, 13–22, 30–25 | ||
| Pts: Konaté 19 Rebs: Robinson, Konaté 8 Asts: Robinson 8 |
Pts: Diarra 22 Rebs: Chinyelu 13 Asts: Berthé 7 | |
21 March 2023
19:30 |
| US Monastir |
60–76 | AS Douanes |
| Scoring by quarter: 10–22, 22–10, 12–14, 16–20 | ||
| Pts: Lahyani 15 Rebs: Slimane 9 Asts: Bouallegue, Slimane 3 |
Pts: Crawford 28 Rebs: Boissy, Ochereobia 7 Asts: Ndour 5 | |
References
edit- ^ "Harouna ruins debut for host team AS Douanes". The BAL. 11 March 2023. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
- ^ "Defending champions show teeth to beat Stade Malien". The BAL. 13 March 2023. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
- ^ "Diarra, Berthe lead Stade Malien for first BAL win". The BAL. 15 March 2023. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
- ^ "How REG secured the first 2023 BAL Playoffs spot". The BAL. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
- ^ "Mills' ABC stun champions Monastir". The BAL. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
- ^ "Was this AS Douane's comeback moment?". The BAL. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
- ^ "Randle, Thomas lead Monastir to playoffs". The BAL. 20 March 2023. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
- ^ "Bile's heroics send ABC to playoffs". The BAL. 20 March 2023. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
- ^ "Stade Malien deserved to win – Mills". The BAL. 21 March 2023. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
- ^ "Boissy, Crawford end US Monastir's title defense". The BAL. Retrieved 30 March 2023.
- ^ "What happened at the 2023 Sahara Conference?". The BAL. Retrieved 30 March 2023.