Event | 2022 BAL season | ||||||||||||||||||
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Date | 28 May 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||
Venue | BK Arena, Kigali, Rwanda | ||||||||||||||||||
MVP | Michael Dixon, US Monastir | ||||||||||||||||||
Favorite | US Monastir (1.38 decimal odds) [1] | ||||||||||||||||||
Referees | Hortensia Sanchez-Carrizales Wael Ibrahim Mostafa Marie Leslie Cherubin | ||||||||||||||||||
Attendance | 10,000 | ||||||||||||||||||
The 2022 BAL Finals was the championship game of the 2022 BAL season, the second season of the Basketball Africa League (BAL). The final was played in the BK Arena in Kigali on 28 May 2022, between Angolan club Petro de Luanda and Tunisian club US Monastir.
US Monastir won the game after pulling away in the fourth quarter, winning its first BAL and its first African continental title. The game was attended by a sold-out crowd of 10,000. [2]
In the following table, finals in the FIBA Africa Clubs Champions Cup are in small text.
Team | Previous final appearances (bold indicates winners) |
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US Monastir | 1 (2021) |
Petro de Luanda | None 8 (1994, 1999, 2000, 2006 , 2007, 2009, 2012, 2015 ) |
On 9 December 2021, The BK Arena, then named the "Kigali Arena", was announced as the venue of the 2022 BAL Playoffs. [3] This was the second consecutive final that was held at the arena.
Kigali | 2022 BAL finals (Africa) |
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BK Arena | |
Capacity: 10,000 | |
Petro de Luanda qualified as the champions of the 2020–21 season and brought back Brazilian coach José Neto for a second season. The core of its roster remained intact, with Anderson Correia and Yanick Moreira being signed as reinforcements on 15 March 2022. [4] [5]
Petro had its most successful season in history, as the team won the 2021–22 Angolan Basketball League with an unbeaten record of 33–0. On 11 May 2022, it captured its 15th national title after sweeping Interclube in the national finals. [6] As the team also won the Angolan Cup and the Angolan Supercup, it captured its first national treble.
In the 2022 BAL Nile Conference, Petro ended in second place after losing only to Zamalek. On 8 May, American guard E. C. Matthews was added to the roster ahead of the playoffs. [7] After defeating AS Salé in a re-match of last season's quarterfinal, Petro defeated FAP to reach its first-ever BAL final and its ninth African continental final.
US Monastir qualified for its second straight BAL season after winning the 2020–21 Championnat National A title. In the offseason, the club lost its All-BAL star players Omar Abada and Makrem Ben Romdhane in the offseason as they signed in Saudi Arabia and Portugal respectively. The roster was strengthened with Solo Diabate and Michael Dixon, however, while Ater Majok re-signed.
In its domestic competitions, Monastir had another dominant season as it captured its fourth consecutive national title on 11 May 2022, having defeated Ezzahra Sports in the finals. Three days later, on 14 May, Monastir also won the Tunisian Cup to complete the double. [8]
In the 2022 BAL Sahara Conference, Monastir finished second after a surprising loss against Rwandan club REG. Ahead of the playoffs, the team was strengthened with American guard Julius Coles Jr. [9] In the quarterfinals, the team blew out Cape Town Tigers by a season-high 39 points difference. In the semifinals, the team defeated Zamalek to take revenge for the previous season's final loss.
Petro de Luanda | Round | US Monastir | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Opponent | Result | Group phase | Opponent | Result | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Cape Town Tigers | 90–61 | Round 1 | Ferroviário da Beira | 77–71 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Cobra Sport | 92–56 | Round 2 | SLAC | 76–55 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Zamalek | 72–85 | Round 3 | AS Salé | 96–90 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
FAP | 73–60 | Round 4 | DUC | 74–62 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Espoir Fukash | 94–64 | Round 5 | REG | 74–77 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Nile Conference second place
| Regular season | Sahara Conference second place
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Opponent | Result | Playoffs | Opponent | Result | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
AS Salé | 102–89 | Quarterfinals | Cape Town Tigers | 106–67 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
FAP | 88–74 | Semifinals | Zamalek | 88–81 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
US Monastir won the first quarter 17-18. In the second quarter, Petro de Luanda made a 8-0 run that included three-point field goals by Gerson Gonçalves and Carlos Morais, to end the first half with a 40-33 lead. Monastir shot 0-8 from behind the three-point line in the first half, and the Tunisian bench was outscored 17-2 by the Angolans. [10] Following free-throw misses and turnovers by Petro in the third quarter, Monastir only trailed 57-59. Michael Dixon scored a three-pointer to put Monastir up 60-59, their first lead in the second half. Petro big men Jone Pedro and Yanick Moreira were both fouled out with 8 minutes and 1 minutes to go, respectively. With three minutes to play, Carlos Morais made an unsportsmanlike foul on which Monastir capitalise to take a 72-67 lead. The game was sealed with 30 seconds to go after Radhouane Slimane picked up an offensive rebound after a Julius Coles Jr. miss and scored the basket to put Monastir up 78-72. Following a Petro de Luanda time-out, Monastir forward Firas Lahyani stole the ball which gave Petro no chance to come back. Michael Dixon shot 7-of-10 from the field and had 21 points and 6 assists in the game, and following his superb performance, he was named the BAL Most Valuable Player, following Walter Hodge as the second-ever winner of the award. Monastir center Ater Majok, who scored 14 points in the game, was named the BAL Defensive Player of the Year. Gerson Gonçalves scored 28 points for the losing Angolan side, followed by Yanick Moreira's 18 points off the bench. [10]
28 May 2022 | Petro de Luanda | 72–83 | US Monastir | Kigali |
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18:00 CAT | Scoring by quarter: 17–18, 23–15, 19–24, 13–26 | |||
Pts: Gonçalves 28 Rebs: Moreira 7 Asts: Gonçalves 4 PIR: Gonçalves 27 | Boxscore | Pts: Dixon, Lahyani 21 Rebs: Lahyani 10 Asts: Dixon 6 PIR: Lahyani 24 | Arena: BK Arena Attendance: 10,000 Referees: Hortensia Sanchez-Carrizales, Wael Ibrahim Mostafa, Marie Leslie Cherubin |
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To honour their championship, US Monastir was received at the Carthage Palace by Tunisian President Kais Saied. [11] The team was also congratulated on Twitter by Barack Obama, former President of the United States and an investor in the BAL. [12]
Carlos Edilson Alcântara Morais is an Angolan basketball player for the Petro de Luanda of the Angolan Basketball League. Standing at 1.93 m, he plays as shooting guard, or small forward.
Ater James "AJ" Majok is a professional basketball player for Sagesse Club. He was drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2011 NBA draft with the 58th overall pick. Born in Sudan and raised in Australia, Majok represents Lebanon internationally. Standing at 6 ft 11 in, Majok mostly stands out with his athletic and defensive abilities. He was the BAL Defensive Player of the Year in 2022.
Mouloukou Souleyman Diabate, commonly known as Solo Diabate, is an Ivorian basketball player who currently plays for Al Ahly Benghazi.
Atlético Petróleos de Luanda, commonly known as Petro de Luanda, is an Angolan basketball club based in Luanda. It competes at the local level, at the Luanda Provincial Basketball Championship and at the Angola National Basketball Championship. Additionally, the club plays at the continental level, at the Basketball Africa League (BAL).
Yanick Pires Moreira is an Angolan professional basketball player who plays for Petro de Luanda of the Angolan Basketball League and the Basketball Africa League (BAL). He played two seasons of college basketball for the SMU Mustangs.
Omar Abada is a Tunisian professional basketball player who plays for Al Ahly since 2023. Abada also plays for the Tunisia national basketball team.
José Alves dos Santos Neto is a Brazilian professional basketball coach. He is the current head coach of Petro de Luanda in the Angolan Basketball League, as well as for the Brazil women's national basketball team.
The 2021 BAL season, also known as BAL Season 1, was the inaugural season of the Basketball Africa League (BAL). Established as a joint effort between the National Basketball Association (NBA) and FIBA, the BAL is the highest tier continental league of Africa, replacing the FIBA Africa Basketball League. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the BAL held its inaugural season one year later as planned, with the season beginning in 2021. Initially the league planned to play in six venues in six countries; however, due to the pandemic the season was held in a bio-secure bubble in Kigali, Rwanda. The season began on 16 May 2021 and ended on 30 May 2021.
Union Sportive Monastirienne, commonly known as US Monastir, is a Tunisian professional basketball club based in Monastir. Established in 1959, the team plays in the Pro A the first division league in Tunisia and has won seven national championships. Monastir also plays in the Basketball Africa League (BAL) since the inaugural season in 2021. Home games are played in the Mohamed-Mzali Sports Hall.
The 2022 BAL season, also known as BAL Season 2, was the second season of the Basketball Africa League (BAL). The season began on 2 March 2022 and ended with the Finals on 28 May 2022. The group phase was played in the Dakar Arena in Dakar and the Hassan Moustafa Sports Hall in Cairo. The playoffs and finals were played in the BK Arena in Kigali for a second year in a row.
Anderson Arménio Gomes Correia is a Cape Verdean basketball player who plays for the Cape Verde national team. Standing at 1.95 m, he plays as shooting guard.
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The 2022 BAL Playoffs was the second edition of the playoffs of the Basketball Africa League (BAL) and was the concluding tournament of the 2022 BAL season. The playoffs began on 21 May 2022 and ended on 28 May 2022 with the Finals. For a second consecutive season, all playoffs games were played at the BK Arena in Kigali, Rwanda.
The 2021–22 Angolan Basketball League, for sponsorship reasons the 2021–22 Unitel Basket, is the 44th season of the Angolan Basketball League, the highest premier basketball league in Angola. The season consisted of 13 teams and began on 22 December 2021 and ended on 10 May 2022.
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The 2021–22 season of Petro de Luanda men's basketball team was the 42nd in the existence of the club and the 2nd in the Basketball Africa League (BAL).
The 2021–22 season was the 63rd season of the US Monastir men's basketball team and the 2nd of the team in the Basketball Africa League (BAL).
The 2022–23 season of US Monastir was the 64th in the club's history. It is the club's third season in the Basketball Africa League (BAL). This season US Monastir was coached by Marouan Kechrid until October, when Linos Gavriel took over. However, Gavriel did not coach during the 2023 BAL season, where the head coaching duties were given to former BAL championship-winning Miodrag Perišić.
Petro de Luanda plays the 2023–24 season in the Angolan Basketball League and the Basketball Africa League (BAL), as well as in two national cup competitions.