Tunisia’s Club Africain secured the first playoff ticket from the 2026 Sahara Conference on Tuesday in Rabat, beating JCA Kings 79–74.
This was Club Africain’s third consecutive victory in the conference, whereas the Kings remained without a win after three games.
The Africains needed an extra five minutes to overcome a tenacious, but error-prone JCA Kings team that squandered a superb opportunity to cause the biggest upset of the conference.
With eight more games left in Rabat, this was the game of the conference decided in overtime.
While Club Africain star Omar Obada had a quiet night, Aminu Mohamed stepped up, leading his team with 21 points.
Jonathan Cissé became the first player in the 2026 Sahara Conference to score 30 points, but this wasn’t enough to prevent the Kings from losing.
But how could the JCA Kings have won the rebounding battle 65–42 and made 33.8% of their field goals compared to Club Africain’s 32.9%, yet still end up on the losing side?
The Kings’ loss can only be explained by the disparity in turnovers, with the Kings finishing with 18 compared to Club Africain’s four.
“We were well prepared today, and the team is improving all the time,” insisted JCA Kings shooting guard Robinson Opong who finished six points.
The Ugandan international player went on saying: “In each game, we are making more consecutive stops, which is why we were able to stay in the game and give ourselves a chance to win. Unfortunately, against a good team like Club Africain, who have been playing together all year and have good veteran players, little mistakes hurt.”
The Kings looked nothing like the team that many had ruled out after they lost their opening two games; their tenacity and sense of desperation in relaunching their BAL campaign was evident.
Club Africain, on the other hand, were unrecognizable from the team that had won many hearts and been tipped as strong favorites to win their third consecutive game.
From the moment the Kings took an 11–10 lead and went on to lead by nine (19–10) at the end of the first quarter, they grew in confidence, leaving Club Africain searching for answers.
No matter how hard the Tunisian giants tried to retake the lead, the Kings remained in absolute control of the game. They contested every Club Africain possession and shot, and more importantly, won the rebounding battle 30–18 at half-time, leading 37–24.
Just before halftime, the Kings reached their largest lead of 15 points (34–19).
Club Africain came out with a more aggressive defence in the third quarter, and a 10-0 run at the start of the period was just what they needed to slow down the Kings.
The third quarter proved costly for the Kings, who saw their double-digit lead evaporate to just one point (47–46) by the end.
When Abada scored an exquisite shot that hit the top of the board before falling in, giving Club Africain their first lead and a game-changing moment, their fans went wild.
“Congrats to my team and to the JCA Kings for a hard-fought game,” Club Africain power forward Jamelle Hagins said.
“It wasn’t easy; we really had to work for it. My team showed a lot of character, even when the shots weren’t falling. Everything seemed to be going wrong tonight, but we stuck with it and were able to win,” Hagins added.
When asked about Club Africain’s struggle in the first three quarter, Hagins insisted that “there was nothing specific about our slow start; that’s just how basketball goes. Sometimes shots go in and sometimes they don’t.”
He even acknowledged that JCA Kings’ dominance in the paint was challenging. “Their bigs are very active, and tonight they hurt us with their rebounding,” Hagins said.
Despite the Kings’ third loss in as many games, Opong remained upbeat, saying: “All in all, I am happy with my team. We are improving all the time. If we keep playing like this, we’ll stand a chance of winning a couple of games. What you saw today was a group of players who believe they can compete at the highest level. We’ll keep working hard and come back stronger.”
The remaining three playoff spots will be decided in the next games in Rabat.
SOURCE: BAL
