Friday Al Ahli Tripoli 74-85 Al Ittihad Kriol Star 91-88 FUS Rabat Egypt’s Al Ittihad Alexandria beat Libya’s Al Ahli Tripoli 85-74 in the second seeding game of BAL 2025 playoffs on Friday, June 6 in Pretoria, South Africa to remain the only undefeated team in this year’s edition. After a stellar performance in the Nile Conference last month in Kigali where they finished undefeated, Tripoli came into the seeding games as one of the top teams. However, they encountered a new and difficult experience against the Egyptians. For the first time this season, Tripoli went into halftime having failed to lead in the opening two quarters. They ended up never taking the lead through out the game. They also found themselves trailing by more than 12 points. At one point in the second quarter, they were down by 14 points (28-14). Al Ahli Tripoli's most lethal weapon, the three-point shot, was nearly non-existent. They went 2-for-14 in the first half. They finished the opening quarter 0-for-6 from deep and ended the game 4-for-27. Fabian White Jr., who joined Al Ahli Tripoli last week, led all players in scoring with 24 points and added 10 rebounds. Jean Jacques Boissy and Nasseim Badrush contributed 17 and 16 points, respectively, but no other Al Ahli Tripoli player scored in the double digits. Reigning BAL MVP Jo Lual Acuil, who joined Al Ittihad Alexandria a few days before the playoffs, finished with team-highs of 16 points and 14 rebounds. His fellow South Sudanese, Majok Deng, led the team with 19 points. Al Ittihad will face FUS Rabat in the quarterfinals, and Al Ahli Tripoli will play Kriol Star. Meanwhile, Kriol Star opened its 2025 Basketball Africa League (BAL) Playoffs campaign the same way it closed their regular season: With a hard-fought win. The Cape Verdean champions were trailing by as many as 10 points in the third quarter. However, when Jalan McCloud hit a fast-break three-pointer midway through the fourth quarter, giving them a 75-72 lead, FUS Rabat had no way to catch up. Although there was some uncertainty later in the quarter, the BAL debutant Kriol Star emerged victorious, 91-88.
