Malian champions Stade Malien on Tuesday beat ABC 90-71 to finish at the summit of the Sahara Conference games that concluded in Dakar, Senegal and hence advanced to the 2023 Basketball Africa League (BAL) playoffs in May in Kigali, Rwanda. With the win, Stade Malien improved to 3-2, while ABC dropped to 3-2. The latter also qualified for the playoffs despite the defeat. Star man Aliou Diarra hit his fifth double-double in five games as his 22 points and 10 rebounds inspired his team to a much-needed victory that sealed them a qualification. BAL 2022 Champions US Monastir were eliminated from BAL 2023 as 60-76 shock defeat to home side AS Douanes on Tuesday night saw them drop to fifth place, down from the top prior to the crunch encounter. Five of the six Sahara Conference teams are tied to a 3-2 record, prompting BAL to refer to the rules to decide the top four teams qualifying to the playoffs. According to the rules, if two or more teams in a conference have the same win-loss record across all games, the games between such two or more teams shall decide their respective rankings. If such two or more teams have the same win-loss record across the respective games between them, further criteria will be applied with the first one being a higher point difference. Rwandan representatives REG survived an early elimination scare as the rules came in their favor to finish third in the conference. The four Sahara Conference finalists will be joined in Kigali by the same number of teams that will qualify from the forthcoming Nile Conference that will take place from April 26 to May 6 in Cairo, Egypt. The Nile Conference will bring together debutants Al Ahly of host nation Egypt, Cape Town Tigers (South Africa), BAL 2022 runners-up Petro de Luanda (Angola), City Oilers (Uganda), Ferroviário da Beira (Mozambique) and Seydou Legacy Athlétique Club (Guinea). With Monastir out of the BAL 2023 and Zamalek not participating in this year’s edition, the new BAL champions will be announced after the final match slated for Saturday, May 27. Final ranking of Sahara Conference Stade Malien (3-2) As Douanes (3-2) REG (3-2) Abidjan Basket Club (ABC) (3-2) US Monastir (3-2) Kwara Falcons (0-5)
