Guinea's SLAC stun AS Police in OT, qualify to Basketball Africa League

YAOUNDE (Cameroon) - AS Police will need to wait another 24 hours to try to return to the Basketball Africa League (BAL) for the second time in a row as Guinea's SLAC proved too tough to beat.

In Wednesday's first Elite 16 Division West Semi-Final in the Cameroonian capital of Yaounde, the Mali champions outscored SLAC 7-0 in the last 2:40 minutes of the regulation to tie the contest at 69-all, however, with 42 seconds left, Stephane Konate, the man who propelled the Policemen with team-highs 24 points and four steals and grabbed 9 rebounds, missed two Free-Thrown attempts - including an air-ball - with the highly-contested encounter tied at 70-all and 40 seconds remaining.

SLAC's Dane Miller Jr could have closed out the game with with a second left, but his near-the-basket tip-in missed the target.

Dane Miller Jr.

In the additional five minutes, SLAC  outscored AS Police 11-8 to win 81-78 and secure their ticket to the BAL regular season, expected to run from March to May in Dakar in Cairo.

Miller Jr paced the Conakry-based team with 26 points 10 rebounds, 6 assists and two block shots. Michael Poole contributed 19 points and 9 rebounds, and Dioumba Mara scored 9 of his 13 points from behind the arc to help SLAC advance to the highly-anticipated second season of the BAL. 

Papa Tandina - the other AS Police players to score in double figures -  finished with 16 points off the bench, but the historic day belonged to SLAC. 

Meanwhile, AS Police will have a second chance to qualify to the BAL on Thursday when the face the loser of the game between FAP and Espoir Fukash in the Third-Place Game. 

SLAC head coach Zeljko Zecevic praised his team's tenacity and composure: "It's a special moment for Guinea basketball. We have been working really hard over the past few years. This victory and qualification to the BAL is a reward for everyone supporting basketball in Guinea," said the man who guided Guinea to the Quarter-Finals of the FIBA AfroBasket 2021 in September.

On Thursday, SLAC will take on the winner of the second Semi-Final between FAP and Espoir Fukash in a contest that will determine the winner of the Elite 16 Division West. 

FIBA