Al Ahly Benghazi pick last ticket from the West Division to the BAL 2024 season
The win over Cameroon's FAP means that Al Ahly Benghazi has become the first Libyan team to qualify for the Basketball Africa League
YAOUNDE (Cameroon) – Al Ahly Benghazi confirmed its ticket to the Basketball Africa League (BAL) with a return on investment in the Elite 16 West Division as they ended the hopes of home side FAP.
Still hurt from the 87-85 defeat in the hands of Bangui Sporting Club in the Semi-Final, Al Ahly Benghazi knew better not to toy with their chances going all out to defeat FAP 93-84 to book their flight to the Basketball Africa League (BAL) 2024 season
Al Ahly Benghazi has become the first Libyan team to qualify for the Basketball Africa.
The win for Al Ahly is the second over FAP who had fallen 86-77 on Game Day 2 of the competition and again came to the party ready for action though FAP kept pushing through to close up the gap with deft moves from Valentin Lele, Jalone Friday and Jean Paul Njiki.
Souleyman Diabate dished out an incredible 12 assists in the must-win game for Al Ahly Benghazi
Worthy of note is that FAP didn't give up easily. They fought throughout as Etienne Tametong tore through the defense of Al Ahly to cut down the gap difference.
The last quarter proved worthy for Al Ahly Benghazi as they used fast breaks to dig into FAP even as they made hurried transitions to stop Ahly from scoring.
TURNING POINT: FAP won the last quarter by 28-17 points but it was not enough to turn the tide against Al Ahly who locked the game in the third quarter at 28-23. Al Ahly Benghazi despite FAP’s fast response kept their calm to finish the game on high.
HERO: Chris Crawford was certainly the hero of the game with 39 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist to his credit. And Majok had 12 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists while Solo Diabate with 13 points, 3 rebounds while dishing 12 assists.
Jalone Friday drained 19 points, 11 rebounds, 1 assist to help FAP and Tametong had 26 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists to add.
Chris Crawford was 6 for 11 from behind the arc as Benghazi bounced back from a Semi-Final loss to Bangui
STATS DON'T LIE: Al Ahly Coach Aoun Monaem stuck to his 9-man rotation but managed the playing time well to win the game with 21-11 from turnovers and 18-13 from fast breaks. They had better assists of 26-19. And they also made 20-for-30 in free throws as against 9-for-13 of FAP.
BOTTOM LINE: It was a game in which the winner got the last ticket and Al Ahly Benghazi left nothing to chance and showed they wanted it by all means.
WHAT THEY SAID: "Now it’s all over and victory in our pockets but finishing third is not what I bargained for. We'll go back home and work towards getting better together in the BAL. I am happy for the team and excited for the team getting there for the first time." – Chris Crawford of Al Ahly Benghazi.
"We were not professional enough on the court and outside the court. My top players were not at their best and our defense was just not it as Al Ahly made easy baskets. Our turnovers ruined us." – Kevin Ngwese, Coach of FAP.
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