Semi-final Al Ahly 78-73 Stade Malien Egyptian giants Al Ahly will rub shoulders with Senegal’s AS Douanes in the 2023 Basketball Africa League (BAL) final after beating Stade Malien of Mali 78-73 in Wednesday night’s semi-final game held at BK Arena. Ehab Amin, an Egyptian shooting guard, again showed his class against the Malians with his team high 21 points and six rebounds, while Michael Thompson added 12 points. Both sides were tied at 17-17 in the first quarter, but Stade Malien took a step in advance in the second to win 21-16 to go into half-time leading the game with 38-33. But Al Ahly bounced back in the second half with a commanding 25-15 third quarter win to take control of the game with a five-point lead. The Malians had 10 minutes to make fight back but Al Ahly defended their lead till last second of the final quarter which ends both teams tied with 20-20. “We did a very good job in the second half. They are a very good team but we took home the win,” said Amin Ehab in a post-match press conference. Asked about his thoughts for Saturday’s game, the shooting guard said,“we got to do a better job. We needed to finish out early and make the free throws.” “That’s one of the BAL advantages. High pressure time is very tough and very close.” Al Ahly may be inches closer to wining their first BAL championship, but head coach Agustin Juilbe Bosch remains tight-lipped about whether his team is favorite to take it home. “There is a possibility that we win and there is a possibility that they win,” Bosche adding that it was still early to decide. Meanwhile, Petro de Luanda face Stade Malien in a third place game on Friday.
