Sahara Conference hosts ASC Ville de Dakar (ASCVD) were eliminated from the Basketball Africa League on Sunday, April 4, with a 77-68 defeat to Tunisia's US Monastir, who sealed their spot in June's playoffs along with Angola's Petro de Luanda and Cape Verde's Kriol Star. Earlier on Sunday, Petro had secured their playoff place despite a 71-69 overtime defeat to Kriol Star. Al Ittihad and Rivers Hoopers had qualified as the top two teams in the Kalahari Conference in Rabat in March. Dakar knew that they needed a win in order to qualify for the playoffs, while a defeat would see them eliminated. Sharpshooting point guard Will Perry certainly got the mandate and had a strong first quarter with 10 points, but Osiris Eldridge had 10 in the same quarter for Monastir to ensure the Tunisian side led 16-15 by its end. ALSO READ: Al Ittihad, Rivers Hoopers advance to BAL 2025 playoffs in Pretoria Monastir began the second quarter with a 13-2 run. Makhtar Gueye had a strong quarter, hitting three threes in as many minutes, and he kept ASCVD in the fight as they went into half-time 38-32 down. The third quarter was a relatively even contest with the teams trading blows from buzzer to buzzer and Monastir maintaining a 53-46 lead heading into the last quarter. The hosts inched closer in the early stages of the fourth quarter and with 5:56 minutes left, a Perry layup reduced the deficit to 60-56. However, Babacar Sané led an 8-1 run for Monastir, silencing the fans of his home country's team. There was no way back from there for ASCVD and despite Perry's 20 points and Gueye's 18, they were outclassed by a better-rotated roster led by Eldridge's 22. ALSO READ: BAL 2025: Morocco, Rwanda to host conference games as playoffs head to South Africa Despite signing star players such as Perry, Gueye, Ater Majok, Devine Eke and Abdoulaye Harouna, ASCVD were disjointed throughout the tournament. Despite his superb season for Nigeria's Rivers Hoopers last year and subsequent NBA Summer League and G League stints, Eke bizarrely saw limited minutes on the floor throughout the tournament under ASCVD coach Libasse Faye. Harouna did not take to the floor at all in Sunday's game despite playing a key role towards the beginning of the conference. As a result of Sunday's late result, Monastir topped the Sahara Conference, with Petro second, Kriol Star third and ASCVD bottom. The top two automatically qualify in each of the three conferences, along with the two best third-placed teams. Kriol Star have a better record than FUS Rabat, who finished third in the Kalahari Conference, and are thus guaranteed a playoff spot. FUS can still qualify for the playoffs June 6-14, if they have a better record than the third-placed team at Kigali's Nile Conference, which is up next from May 17-25.
