Three of the four teams in the 2026 Basketball Africa League (BAL) semi-finals have reached this stage of the competition before.
On Monday, Al Ahly Ly and Petro de Luanda secured their places in the Last Four by overcoming Club Africain and Dar City, respectively.
In the first game of the day at the BK Arena in Kigali, Rwanda, Al Ahly Ly overturned a three-point deficit from their first-round game against Club Africain to win by 18 points (98–80).
Petro de Luanda needed to win by at least nine points in Monday’s second game to advance, and the Angolan heavyweights dominated from the outset, winning 83–69.
Al Ahly Ly (Libya) and Petro de Luanda (Angola) joined Al Ahly SC (Egypt) and RSSB Tigers (Rwanda), who had secured their places in the semi-finals on Sunday night.
Al Ahly SC defeated ASC Ville de Dakar 87–76, cancelling out their three-point loss (93–90) from the first round of the quarterfinals.
The RSSB Tigers lost to FUS Rabat on Sunday (99–98), but still advanced to the Last Four thanks to their 95–72 win in the first round of the quarterfinals.
Monday’s results mean that Al Ahly Ly will face Petro de Luanda in Thursday’s semi-final (28 May), in a rematch of the 2024 BAL Final.
The day before, on Wednesday 27 May, Al Ahly SC will play the home team, the RSSB Tigers.
Except for BAL debutants RSSB Tigers, Al Ahly SC, Al Ahly Ly and Petro de Luanda had all previously reached the BAL semi-finals.
Al Ahly SC reached the semi-final in their first ever appearance in the league, culminating in their 2023 BAL title win.
Al Ahly Ly reached the BAL semifinals in their debut season in 2024, finishing second after losing to Petro de Luanda.
Petro de Luanda have reached the semi-finals in all six seasons of the Basketball Africa League’s existence.
Unstoppable Moore puts an end to Club Africain’s semi-final dreams
Charlie Moore did it all to send Al Ahly Ly to the 2026 BAL semifinals.
From stopping shots, sinking three-pointers and disrupting Club Africain’s plays, to creating shots for his teammates, Moore played a heroic role in Al Ahly’s 98-80 win over the Tunisian team.
He shot an impressive 7-for-15 from the floor, including 4-for-9 from deep, and finished with 23 points and 13 assists, while also drawing five fouls.
His teammates Donovan Williams, Majok Deng and Assem Marei added 25, 15 and 11 points respectively.
Unlike in their first-round game, in which they only trailed by 13 points, Club Africain trailed by 18 points at one stage on Monday.
The Tunisian team used a strong second quarter to outscore Al Ahly Ly 24–20, heading to the half-time break six points behind (50–44).
However, Al Ahly’s 13-2 scoring run in the third quarter proved too much for Club Africain, who never led.
Al Ahly Ly secured the third of four semi-final tickets with the win, while Club Africain saw their season come to an end.
Club Africain went into the game knowing that they needed to overcome their one-point loss (88-87) from the first round if they were to keep their semi-final dream alive, but their hopes were quickly dashed.
The Tunis-based team struggled to contain Al Ahly Ly’s repeated scoring runs. Although Club Africain seemed to be in contention in the third quarter, Al Ahly Ly soon regained control.
Oussama Marnaoui led the Tunisians in scoring with 16 points. He was followed by Aminu Mohamed, who added 15 points.
Makthar Gueye came off the bench to contribute 12 points to Club Africain, but his three fouls in the first two quarters forced coach Antonio Cainzos to substitute him to avoid an early exclusion. Gueye returned later in the third quarter but did not score again.
Club Africain playmaker Omar Abada was on the court for the whole game, shooting 3-for-13 and finishing with 12 points and seven.
Petro de Luanda are back in the semis for the sixth time in a row
Petro de Luanda overturned an eight-point deficit from the first round of the quarterfinal, beating Dar City 83-69 to advance to the BAL semifinals for the sixth time in a row.
The 2024 BAL champions took to the court with determination, leading by 10 points at the end of the opening quarter (26–16) and never looking back.
Even when Dar City scored 10 points in an attempt to minimise the damage, Petro de Luanda maintained their momentum, leading by as many as 20 points at one stage in the game.
Chasson Randle led Petro de Luanda’s scoring with 20 points, while Yanick Moreira added 16 points off the bench to keep the Angolan champions in the running for this season’s BAL title.
Randle scored his first nine points from behind arc, paving the way for Petro’s sixth win of the season.
“[Chasson Randle] He really stepped up for,” said Raphiael Putney who helped Petro with his seven points off the bench.
“We put so much effort into defence,” Putney explained while detailing how they lost by points (88-82) to Dar City in the last game. “We let up in the final three minutes, which cost us the game. Tonight, however, we came out stronger and secured the win.”
Meanwhile, Dar City’s season came to an end.
Petro de Luanda will face Al Ahly in the semifinals in a rematch of the 2024 BAL Final.
Daniel Utomi, Nisre Zouzoua and Michael Foster – the only Dar City players to score in double digits – spent over 39 minutes on the court each, combining for 52 of their team’s 69 points.
David Michineau punished the Petroliers’ defence with 12 points and eight assists in the first round, but he limped off the court in the second quarter and never returned due to a reported hamstring injury.
Reflecting Dar City’s struggles, their bench was outscored 51–16.
In contrast, Petro de Luanda rotated their players and led from the outset, maintaining complete control of their destiny.
Pete Jok gave Petro a huge boost, scoring all 15 of his points from beyond the arc on 5-for-9 shooting.
SOURCE: BAL
