2025 BAL final

2025 BAL final

Promotional material for the final
Event	2025 BAL season
Al Ahli Tripoli Petro de Luanda (8–1) (5–4) 88 67 Head coach: Fouad Abou Chakra Head coach: Sergio Valdeolmillos
1 2 3 4 Total Al Ahli Tripoli 27 16 23 22 88 Petro de Luanda 19 19 16 13 67
Date	14 June 2025
Venue	SunBet Arena, Pretoria, South Africa
Favorite	Al Ahli Tripoli (1.39 decimal odds) [1]
Referees	Julian Scott, Yann Vezo Davidson, Annie Joyce Muchenu
Attendance	6,853
←  2024 2026 →

The 2025 BAL final was the championship game of the 2025 BAL season, the third season of the Basketball Africa League (BAL), and the conclusion of the playoffs. The final was played on 14 June 2025 at the SunBet Arena in Pretoria, South Africa, which was the venue for the first time. The final was contested by Angolan club Petro de Luanda and Libyan club Al Ahli Tripoli.

Al Ahli Tripoli won the final, defeating the defending champions Petro, 88–67, becoming the first Libyan team to win the title, as well as the first team that qualified through the Road to BAL to win the league. As winners, Al Ahli qualified for the 2025 FIBA Intercontinental Cup.

Background

Al Ahly Ly guard Solo Diabate played a in a record-extending fourth final, and had the chance to become the first player to win three BAL championships. Al Ahli Tripoli was favored by betmakers ahead of the final. ^[1]

Previous finals

In the following table, finals played in the FIBA Africa Clubs Champions Cup (ACC), the previous highest level continental competition, are in small text.

Team	Previous final appearances (bold indicates winners)
Petro de Luanda	BAL: 2 (2022, 2024 ) FIBA ACC: 8 (1994, 1999, 2000, 2006 , 2007, 2009, 2012, 2015 )
Al Ahly Tripoli	None

Road to the final

Further information: 2025 BAL season

Al Ahli Tripoli		Round	Petro de Luanda
Opponent	Result	Conference phase	Opponent	Result
Nile Conference Pos Team v t e Pld PCT 1 Al Ahli Tripoli 6 1.000 2 APR (H) 6 .500 3 MBB 6 .333 4 Nairobi City Thunder 6 .167 Source: BAL (H) Hosts		Standings	Sahara Conference Pos Team v t e Pld PCT 1 US Monastir 6 .667 2 Petro de Luanda 6 .500 3 Kriol Star 6 .500 4 ASC Ville de Dakar (H) 6 .333 Source: BAL (H) Hosts
MBB	W 87–77	Matchday 1	Kriol Star	W 103–74
Nairobi City Thunder	W 115–87	Matchday 2	US Monastir	L 73–87
APR	W 90–68	Matchday 3	ASC Ville de Dakar	L 64–65
Nairobi City Thunder	W 104–91	Matchday 4	US Monastir	W 78–68
APR	W 106–102	Matchday 5	ASC Ville de Dakar	W 76–67
MBB	W 102–73	Matchday 6	Kriol Star	L 69–71 (OT)
Opponent	Agg.	Playoffs	Opponent	Agg.
Al Ittihad Alexandria	L 74–85	Seeding game	APR	L 57–75
Kriol Star	W 107–81	Quarterfinals	US Monastir	W 95–84
APR	W 84–71	Semifinals	Al Ittihad Alexandria	W 96–74

Petro de Luanda

See also: 2024–25 Petro de Luanda basketball season

Aboubakar Gakou led Petro to another treble and won his third Angolan League MVP award

After the successful previous season, veteran Jone Pedro left the club (after 5 years), along with Gerson Gonçalves (after 9 years), who signed a contract in France. ^{[2] [3]} The team reinforced themselves with Solo Diabate, who returned after one season in Libya, and Patrick Gardner. The season began with the Supertaça de Angola on November 24, 2024; Petro won the cup for an eleventh time after easily defeating Interclube in the game. ^[4]

In January 2025, Carlos Morais left the team after 22 seasons with Petro, when he signed with Interclube. ^[5] They also signed Rigoberto Mendoza. Petro was allocated in the Sahara Conference, and thus played the group stage games in Dakar. They finished second behind US Monastir and qualified for the playoffs.

On April 11, Petro won its 15th Taça de Angola (Cup) title after crushing Vila Clotilde in the final game. ^[6] With their victory they tied Primeiro de Agosto's record for most cup titles won. ^[7] On May 12, 2025, Petro announced the signing of Samkelo Cele to the team. ^[8] On May 30, 2025, Petro successfully defended its national title by defeating Primeiro de Agosto in the finals in five games. ^{[9] [10]} It was Petro's eighteenth title, and the sixth consecutive championship. It was the second team to win six straight titles, following Primeiro de Agosto's streak between 2000 and 2005. ^[11] Aboubakar Gakou was named the Angolan League MVP for a third time. ^[12]

Game

Al Ahli Tripoli v Petro de Luanda

14 June 2025	Al Ahli Tripoli	88–67	Petro de Luanda	Pretoria, South Africa
16:00	Scoring by quarter: 27–19, 16–19, 23–16, 22–13
	Pts: Marei 22 Rebs: Marei 19 Asts: Adams 7	Boxscore	Pts: Gakou 12 Rebs: Gardner 5 Asts: Dundão 8	Arena: SunBet Arena Attendance: 6,853 Referees: Julian Scott, Yann Vezo Davidson, Annie Joyce Muchenu

Starters: Pts Reb Ast PG 2 Jaylen Adams 11 7 7 SF 4 Fabian White Jr. 18 9 0 SG 7 Naseim Badrush 0 0 2 PG 13 Mohamed Sadi 11 4 8 C 50 Assem Marei 22 19 3 Reserves: PG 5 Jean Jacques Boissy 12 1 2 SG 10 Caleb Agada 10 2 4 PG 11 Bakeer Fellah 0 0 0 C 12 Emmanuel Onoja 0 1 0 SG 23 Ahmed Alsawadiq 2 0 1 C 24 Anees Almansouri 0 0 0 C 34 Wajdi Dawo 2 0 0 PF 45 Ali Abd Rahim 0 0 0 Head coach: Fouad Abou Chakra

Al Ahli Tripoli Petro de Luanda 0 Al Ahli Tripoli Statistics [13] Petro de Luanda 23/50 (46%) 2-pt field goals 17/37 (45%) 8/28 (28%) 3-pt field goals 8/22 (36%) 18/22 (81%) Free throws 9/15 (60%) 25 Offensive rebounds 8 29 Defensive rebounds 22 54 Total rebounds 30 19 Assists 26 16 Turnovers 18 12 Steals 13 5 Blocks 5 19 Fouls 18 2025 BAL champions Al Ahli Tripoli 1st BAL title; 1st continental title

Starters: Pts Reb Ast PG 5 Childe Dundão 11 4 8 SG 12 Rigoberto Mendoza 10 2 3 PF 14 Clésio Castro 6 1 1 F 24 Glofate Buiamba 2 1 0 F 28 Patrick Gardner 11 5 4 Reserves: PG 00 Gerson Domingos DNP SG 1 Eduardo Simão DNP C 2 Yanick Moreira 1 4 2 SG 7 Kendrick Ray 8 2 1 PG 10 Solo Diabate 4 1 4 SF 13 Samson Mashebinu DNP PF 15 Aboubacar Gakou 12 2 2 SG 23 Samkelo Cele 2 0 1 Head coach: Sergio Valdeolmillos

References

1. "BAL Betting Odds & Fixtures, Basketball Africa | Odds Portal". Oddsportal.com. Retrieved 14 June 2025.
2. "Gerson Gonçalves est Savoyard !". AMSB (in French). 16 July 2024. Retrieved 17 July 2024.
3. "Gerson Gonçalves est Savoyard !". AMSB (in French). 16 July 2024. Retrieved 17 July 2024.
4. Angolan Basketball Federation [@fab_angola_oficial]; (24 November 2024). "🏀 PETRO VENCE A SUPERTAÇA VLADIMIRO ROMERO 🏆 [..]" – via Instagram.
5. "More than 20 years later, Carlos Morais says 'goodbye' to Petro and starts wearing the Interclube shirt". VerAngola. 31 January 2025. Retrieved 31 January 2025.
6. Vicente, Adão (11 April 2025). "Taça de Angola em basquetebol na galeria tricolor". Petro de Luanda (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 13 May 2025.
7. Vicente, Adão (11 April 2025). "Taça de Angola em basquetebol na galeria tricolor". Petro de Luanda (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 13 May 2025.
8. Vicente, Adão (11 May 2025). "PETRO REFORÇA EQUIPA PARA A FASE FINAL DA BAL". Petro de Luanda (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 13 May 2025.
9. Vicente, Adão (30 May 2025). "Petro Atlético conquista Unitel Basket". Petro de Luanda (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 30 May 2025.
10. "Basketball: Petro wins and (re)validates national title". VerAngola. 30 May 2025. Retrieved 30 May 2025.
11. Angop - Agência Angola Press. "Petro wins 1º de Agosto and revalidates National…". angop.ao. Retrieved 30 May 2025.
12. "Basketball: Petro wins and (re)validates national title". VerAngola. 30 May 2025. Retrieved 30 May 2025.
13. "LiveStats". geniussports.com. Retrieved 14 June 2025.