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2024 Kalahari Conference

Interior of the SunBet Arena during the games
Tournament details
Country	South Africa
City	Pretoria
Venue(s)	SunBet Arena
Dates	9 – 17 March 2024
Teams	4
Final positions
Champions	FUS Rabat (1st title)
Tournament statistics
Matches played	7
Attendance	26,214 (3,745 per match)
Top scorer	Samkelo Cele, Cape Town Tigers (20.5)
2025 →

The 2024 BAL Kalahari Conference is the inaugural season of the Kalahari Conference, one of the three conferences of the Basketball Africa League (BAL). The composition of the conference and the schedule were announced on 15 February 2024. The conference games began on 9 March and will end on 17 March 2024.

FUS Rabat were the inaugural Kalahari Conference champions, after finishing ahead of Petro de Luanda and the Cape Town Tigers. Dynamo had withdrawn after the first game day.

Withdrawal of Dynamo BBC

In the opening day game between Burundi's Dynamo and South Africa's Cape Town Tigers, the Burundian side taped off the logo of league sponsor Visit Rwanda. Political tensions between the two border nations Burundi and Rwanda had been rising, as Burundi has accused Rwanda of supporting the RED-Tabara rebel militia in the country. Dynamo forfeited their second game against FUS Rabat on 10 March, with the BAL citing "refusing to comply with the league’s rules governing jersey and uniform requirements" as the reason why. Following Dynamo's second forfeit on 12 March, the team was automatically withdrawn from the group as per FIBA rules. Dynamo players Bryton Hobbs and Makhtar Gueye stated that the Burundian government had prohibited the team to wear the logo and ordered the club to forfeit its games if necessary.

Following the withdrawal of Dynamo, the BAL scheduled three games involving the NBA Academy Africa and local South African teams to fill up the holes in the schedule.

Standings

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	PCT	Qualification
1	FUS Rabat	4	3	1	363	295	+68	.750	Advance to playoffs
2	Petro de Luanda	4	2	2	360	340	+20	.500
3	Cape Town Tigers (H)	4	1	3	305	346	−41	.250
4	Dynamo (D)	0	0	0	0	0	0	—	Withdrew

Games

All times are in Central Africa Time.

Gameday 1

Petro de Luanda	73–82	FUS Rabat
Scoring by quarter: 17–23, 14–18, 24–25, 18–16
Pts: Morais 19 Rebs: Gakou 7 Asts: Dundão 4		Pts: Jordan 20 Rebs: Diarra 10 Asts: Four players 3

Cape Town Tigers	73–86	Dynamo
Scoring by quarter: 15–21, 14–23, 24–22, 20–20
Pts: Cele 26 Rebs: Sibanyoni, Preston 7 Asts: Sibanyoni 5		Pts: Otobo 21 Rebs: Otobo 13 Asts: Hobbs 8

Gameday 2

Dynamo

0–20

FUS Rabat

Petro de Luanda	100–88	Cape Town Tigers
Scoring by quarter: 31–14, 16–28, 30–19, 23–27
Pts: Buiamba, Morais 17 Rebs: Morais, Moreira 8 Asts: Dundão 5		Pts: Manyang 20 Rebs: Sibanyoni 9 Asts: Cele 4

Gameday 3

Dynamo

0–20

Petro de Luanda

Cape Town Tigers	58–84	FUS Rabat
Scoring by quarter: 18–24, 16–20, 10–27, 14–13
Pts: Cele 22 Rebs: Sibanyoni 8 Asts: Diarra 3		Pts: Diarra 21 Rebs: Azouga, Najah 7 Asts: Jordan 7

Gameday 4

FUS Rabat	86–89	Petro de Luanda
Scoring by quarter: 25–25, 9–21, 23–29, 29–24
Pts: Jordan 18 Rebs: Diarra 7 Asts: Three players 4		Pts: Dundão 25 Rebs: Gakou 10 Asts: Three players 4

Gameday 5

Cape Town Tigers	84–78	Petro de Luanda
Scoring by quarter: 23–21, 24–20, 17–19, 20–18
Pts: Preston 20 Rebs: Preston 11 Asts: Diarra 9		Pts: Moreira 20 Rebs: Moreira 10 Asts: Morais 7

Gameday 6

FUS Rabat	84–78	Cape Town Tigers
Scoring by quarter: 15–33, 22–21, 22–25, 25–16
Pts: Jordan 19 Rebs: Diarra 11 Asts: Nouhi 5		Pts: Cele 24 Rebs: Preston, Sibanyoni 7 Asts: Preston 5

Individual statistics

References

1. "Five New Teams, Three New Countries to Compete in 2024 BAL season Tipping Off on March 9th in South Africa". The BAL. 15 February 2024. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
2. "FUS Rabat are the 2024 Kalahari Conference champions". The BAL. 17 March 2024. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
3. ^ "Burundi's Dynamo exit Basketball Africa League over jersey row". Reuters. 12 March 2024. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
4. ^ "Burundi's Dynamo BC out of BAL over Visit Rwanda protest". ESPN.com. 12 March 2024. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
5. "Dynamo Basketball Club forfeits game against FUS Rabat Basketball". The BAL. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
6. "Basketball Africa League President Amadou Gallo Fall Statement regarding Dynamo Basketball Club". The BAL. 12 March 2024. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
7. Reporter, Times (11 March 2024). "BAL 2024: Gueye slams Burundi's interference amid Dynamo forfeit". The New Times. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
8. "Statistics". The BAL. Retrieved 18 April 2024.

• 2024 BAL season
• Burundi–Rwanda relations