How teams are gearing up for the 2022 BAL Quarter-Finals

 

ABIDJAN (Cote d'Ivoire) - In just over a week eight teams will square off in the Basketball Africa League (BAL) Quarter-Finals, but how are they gearing up for the Kigali showdown?

The BAL Quarter-Finals will run from Saturday, May 21 through to Saturday, May 28 with teams vying for a spot in the Semi-Finals.

Over the past few weeks most 2022 BAL Quarter-Finalists have been busy trying to get their teams in the best shape possible.

From new signings to successful domestic campaigns, the eight teams are doing everything possible for the best outing in the Rwandan capital.

On Tuesday, May 10, US Monastir (Tunisia) and Petro de Luanda (Angola) were crowned champions of their domestic leagues.

US Monastir closed the best-of-five Tunisian League Finals series with a 3-1 triumph after beating Ez Zahra 79-63.

 

A few hours later, Petro de Luanda clinched their third straight Angolan League title after beating Inter de Luanda 115-87. The former African champions closed the best-of-five series with a 3-0 triumph. 

With the 2022 BAL Quarter-Finals fast approaching, US Monastir are expected to bring back Ater James, who played a major role in the Sahara Conference in March in Dakar. 

Majok averaged team-highs of 15.4 points and 13.2 rebounds in the 2022 BAL regular season. 

After competing the Nile Conference with a mostly Angolan squad, Petro de Luanda announced the signing of American shooting guard Elbert Matthews. 

BAL debutants Rwanda Energy Group (REG) surprised many by finishing top of the Sahara Conference ahead of last year's finalists US Monastir. 

 

Aiming a successful campaign at home, REG are currently holding a training camp in Turkey, where they defeated Kuwait 77-67 and are expected to play two more warm-up games against the national teams of Bahrain and Qatar.

In Cameroon, FAP closed the first round of the National Championship Final-Four in the first place. The Cameroonian champions will resume their Final-Four campaign after the 2022 BAL campaign.

FAP are currently playing the domestic league with local players, but are expected to add import players for Kigali. 

According to SLAC, who are expected to keep most of the roster from the Sahara Conference, two new players Chris Malcolm and Oumar Barry are to join the team for the BAL.

After coming up short in the Semi-Finals of the Egyptian Super League, Zamalek, who closed the Nile Conference undefeated in five games, have re-signed Mohab Yasser, who played a major role off the bench in the inaugural BAL season.

The White Knights are expected to bring back Ike Diogu, DJ Strawberry and Mikhael McKinney who sat out the domestic league due to a limit on imports players. 

 

Meanwhile, Cape Town Tigers have signed former NBA player Cleanthony Early. Early played two seasons with the New York Knicks while spending time with the franchise G League affiliate Westchester Knicks.

The 2022 BAL Quarter-Finals will start with two former African champions AS Salé (Morocco) and Petro de Luanda (Angola). 

Later in the day, Kigali-based Rwanda Energy Group (REG) will go up against Cameroon champions FAP. 

On Day 2 of the BAL Quarter-Finals US Monastir will go up against South Africa's Cape Town Tigers while BAL reigning champions Zamalek will take on SLAC of Guinea.

FIBA