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2023 BAL Final

Promotional material for the final
Event	2023 BAL season
Al Ahly AS Douanes (6–1) (5–2) 80 65 Head coach: Augustí Julbe Head coach: Pabi Gueye
1 2 3 4 Total Al Ahly 17 21 25 17 80 AS Douanes 10 23 13 19 65
Date	27 May 2023
Venue	BK Arena, Kigali, Rwanda
MVP	Nuni Omot (Al Ahly)
Favorite	Al Ahly (1.38)
Attendance	7,532
Halftime show	Bruce Melodie DJ Neptune Pheelz
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The 2023 BAL Final was the championship game of the 2023 BAL season, the third season of the Basketball Africa League (BAL), and concluded the playoffs. The final was played on 27 May 2023 in the BK Arena in Kigali, Rwanda, for a third year in a row. The final was contested by Egyptian club Al Ahly and Senegalese club AS Douanes.

Al Ahly won its first title after defeating AS Douanes 80–65 for their first BAL title and their second continental championship, following the FIBA Africa Club Champions Cup in 2016. Al Ahly head coach Augustí Julbe became the first coach to win two BAL championships, while Nuni Omot was named the league's Most Valuable Player (MVP) after the game.

As winners of the BAL, Al Ahly qualified for the 2023 FIBA Intercontinental Cup, in which they finished fourth.

Teams

In the following table, finals in the FIBA Africa Clubs Champions Cup are in small text. Both teams made their first appearance in a BAL Final. Al Ahly had played in the FIBA ACC final three times before, and won once in 2016. AS Douanes had never appeared in a continental final, and were the first team to play in a continental final since Jeanne d'Arc 31 years before (in 1992).

Team	Previous final appearances (bold indicates winners)
Al Ahly	None 3 (2004, 2012, 2016)
AS Douanes	None

Venue

The BK Arena was used as the host arena for the playoffs and final for a third straight year, under an agreement the BAL made with the Rwandan Ministry of Sport.

Kigali	Kigali2023 BAL final (Africa)
BK Arena
Capacity: 10,000

Road to the finals

Al Ahly		Round	AS Douanes
Opponent	Result	Group phase	Opponent	Result
Ferroviário da Beira	W 92–73	Round 1	ABC Fighters	L 70–76
City Oilers	W 72–70	Round 2	REG	L 69–55
Cape Town Tigers	W 91–70	Round 3	Stade Malien	W 74–58
Petro de Luanda	L 91–90	Round 4	Kwara Falcons	W 75–68
SLAC	W 80–70	Round 5	US Monastir	W 76–60
Nile Conference second place		Regular season	Sahara Conference second place
Opponent	Result	Playoffs	Opponent	Result
REG	W 94–77	Quarterfinals	Ferroviário da Beira	W 93–73
Stade Malien	W 78–73	Semifinals	Petro de Luanda	W 92–86

Background

Al Ahly

Al Ahly qualified directly for the 2023 season as they won the 2021–22 Egyptian Basketball Premier League, following their win over Al Ittihad Alexandria in the finals. A known team on the continental stage, this was their debut season in the BAL under the guidance of coach Augustí Julbe. Julbe had already won the BAL championship in 2021 with Zamalek. The team acquired South Sudanese forward Nuni Omot, as well as American point guard Michael Thompson, who came out of retirement for the BAL. In the Nile Conference, which was held in Cairo, Al Ahly won four out of five games. In the clash with Petro de Luanda, they lost on a buzzer-beater.

In between the group phase and playoffs of the BAL, Al Ahly won its seventh Egyptian title after they beat Al Ittihad Alexandria once again in the 2022–23 Egyptian Basketball Premier League.

Ahead of the playoffs, Al Ahly strengthened their roster with Michael Fakuade, who had already played for the team in 2021. After an easy quarter-final win over Rwandan club REG, Al Ahly defeated Malian club Stade Malien in the semi-final behind 21 points from Ehab Amin.

AS Douanes

AS Douanes qualified directly for the 2023 season after they won the Senegalese championship in the 2022 Nationale 1 season, returning after a one-year absence from the league. Douanes, under the guidance of head coach Pabi Gueye since 2013, acquired Chris Crawford and Terrell Stoglin as American import players. Crawford had played two seasons in the BAL and Stoglin was the two-time BAL scoring champion.

The team lost the first two games of the season, after which the team released Stoglin from their roster. After this, Douanes won three straight games and was able to qualify for the playoffs after they defeated the defending champions US Monastir on the final game day. They eliminated Monastir as well, and advanced based on the tie-breaker between the five teams with a 3–2 record.

In the 2023 BAL Playoffs, Douanes easily cruised past Ferroviário da Beira, before facing the reigning runners-up Petro de Luanda in the semi-final. Behind 28 points from Jean Jacques Boissy and 26 points from Crawford, Douanes beat the Angolan team in what was widely considered to be a shocking win. On 26 May, one day before the final, Pabi Gueye was named the BAL Coach of the Year.

Halftime performance

The halftime performance was provided by Bruce Melodie, Pheelz and DJ Neptune.

Game

Summary

Khaman Maluach started the game for AS Douanes, he was the youngest player to start in a BAL championship game at age 16. Chris Crawford of AS Douanes opened the game with a three-pointer to put the Senegalese up 3–0. Al Ahly's Amr Zahran responded with a three-pointer as the Egyptians tied, as such AS Douanes' lead lasted 23 seconds as Al Ahly would not trail from that point. Following Nuni Omot scoring efforts, Al Ahly lead 17–10 after the low-s first quarter.

In the third quarter, the Egyptians broke away behind two three-pointers by Corey Webster and Ehab Amin that gave them a 13-point lead. The third quarter ended with a comfortable 17-point lead for Al Ahly at 63–46. AS Douanes scored just two three-pointers throughout the game and had a 6% shooting percentage, scoring only two of their 31 attempts. Chris Crawford, who was the Douanes' leading scorer coming into the final, was limited to just 9 points by the Al Ahly defence.

Details

Al Ahly	80–65	AS Douanes
Scoring by quarter: 17–10, 21–23, 25–13, 17–19
Pts: Omot 22 Rebs: Fakuade 10 Asts: Seif 4		Pts: Boissy 20 Rebs: Ochereobia 9 Asts: Ndour 4

Starters: Pts Reb Ast PG 2 Michael Thompson 10 1 3 SG 45 Ehab Amin 9 8 3 SF 14 Amr Zahran 6 3 1 PF 7 Nuni Omot 22 3 2 C 45 Omar Oraby 5 7 0 Reserves: F 6 Amr Gendy 2 1 0 F 10 Dramane Camara 0 1 0 G 12 Omar Azab 0 0 0 G 15 Corey Webster 13 4 2 F 23 Mohamed Abouelnasr 0 1 0 C 24 Saif Seid 2 5 4 F 28 Michael Fakuade 7 10 3 C 34 Ahmed Ismail 4 5 1 Head coach: Augustí Julbe

Al Ahly AS Douanes 0 Al Ahly Statistics Douanes 17/33 (51%) 2-pt field goals 19/45 (42%) 9/33 (27%) 3-pt field goals 2/31 (6%) 19/26 (73%) Free throws 21/33 (63%) 18 Offensive rebounds 21 37 Defensive rebounds 26 55 Total rebounds 47 19 Assists 11 22 Turnovers 13 4 Steals 13 1 Blocks 1 26 Fouls 25 2023 BAL champions Al Ahly 1st BAL title; 2nd continental title

Starters: Pts Reb Ast PG 00 Alkaly Ndour 0 3 4 SG 1 Chris Crawford 9 3 0 SF 2 Samba Daly Fall 6 2 4 PF 4 Khaman Maluach 2 4 0 C 34 Ifeanyichukwu Ochereobia 4 9 0 Reserves: G 5 Jean Jacques Boissy 20 3 3 F 7 Bara Diop 0 2 0 G 10 Madiara Dieng 3 1 0 C 11 Matthew Bryan-Amaning 0 3 3 F 12 Bara Ndiaye 0 1 1 C 15 Mouhamadou Diagne 3 4 0 C 28 Adama Diakhite 14 4 0 F 45 Pape Maguet Diop 4 2 0 Head coach: Pabi Gueye

Post-game

Al Ahly became the third overall club, and the second Egyptian club to win the BAL title, following Zamalek in 2021. Augustí Julbe became the first coach to win two BAL titles, after his title with Zamalek in 2021. Forward Michael Fakuade became the second player to have won two BAL championships, following Solo Diabate.

Al Ahly's Nuni Omot, who scored a game-high 22 points in the final, was named the BAL Most Valuable Player after the game. AS Douanes guards Chris Crawford and Jean Jacques Boissy were named to the All-BAL First Team, becoming the first players from the club to be selected for this honour.

As winners of the final, Al Ahly qualified for the 2023 FIBA Intercontinental Cup Singapore. In the Intercontinental Cup, Al Ahly made history by becoming the first African team to win a game following their 21 September win over the NBA G League Ignite. They finished in the fourth place out of six teams.

References

1. ^ "AS Douanes Shock Petro de Luanda, Advance to Final". The BAL. 25 May 2023. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
2. ^ "Historic control .. Al-Ahly is the champion of the Super League by sweeping Al-Ittihad". Fourals. 16 May 2022. Retrieved 17 May 2022.
3. "Finale Playoffs / DOUANES 73-70 DUC : Les gabelous champions du Sénégal". Basketsenegal (in French). 15 October 2022. Retrieved 16 October 2022.
4. Sikubwabo, Damas (20 January 2023). "BAL 2023: Senegal's AS Douanes signs Terrell Stoglin and Chris Crawford". The New Times. Retrieved 24 January 2023.
5. "Babacar Sané et Adama Diakité renforcent l'AS Douanes pour les play-offs de la BAL!". La Taniere 221 (in French). 18 April 2023. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
6. "Boissy, Crawford end US Monastir's title defense". The BAL. Retrieved 30 March 2023.
7. "What happened at the 2023 Sahara Conference?". The BAL. Retrieved 30 March 2023.
8. "Gueye Named 2023 BAL Coach of the Year". The BAL. 26 May 2023. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
9. The BAL (25 May 2023). "The BAL Final halftime show will be legendary, don't miss it!" (Tweet). Retrieved 26 May 2023 – via Twitter.
10. ^ "MVP Nuni Omot leads Al Ahly to BAL title in Kigali". ESPN.com. 27 May 2023. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
11. ^ "LiveStats". geniussports.com. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
12. "Al Ahly coach Agusti Julbe Bosch says Zamalek win in Season One was much easier". Pulse Sports Uganda. 29 May 2023. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
13. "FIVE TAKEAWAYS FROM THE BAL SEASON 3". The BAL. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
14. ^ "MVP Nuni Omot leads Al Ahly to BAL title in Kigali". ESPN.com. 27 May 2023. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
15. "Day 1 recap: Al Ahly stun NBA G League Ignite; smooth sailing for Bonn". FIBA.basketball. 21 September 2023. Retrieved 21 September 2023.
16. "Zhejiang Golden Bulls edge out Al Ahly to reach podium on first try". FIBA.basketball. 24 September 2023. Retrieved 24 September 2023.

• May 2023 sports events in Africa
• 2023 BAL season
• Sport in Kigali
• Al Ahly SC
• Basketball Africa League finals