League | Basketball Africa League |
---|---|
Sport | Basketball |
Founded | 2022 |
First season | 2022 |
No. of teams | 4 (2024–present) 6 (2022–2023) |
Venue(s) | Dakar Arena |
Most recent champion(s) | Rivers Hoopers (1st title) (2024) |
2024 BAL Sahara Conference |
The Sahara Conference is one of the three conferences that make up the Basketball Africa League (BAL), the other two being the Nile Conference and the Kalahari Conference. All conferences currently consist of four teams.
The conference alignment began in the 2022 season, although plans to have conferences were already set up before the inaugural season. Named after the Sahara, the conference has been played at a single venue thus far, the Dakar Arena in Dakar, Senegal for the past two seasons.
From 2022 to 2024, all games of the Sahara Conference were played at the Dakar Arena located in Dakar. [a]
Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | GF | GA | GD | PCT | Qualification |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Rivers Hoopers | 6 | 4 | 2 | 441 | 413 | +28 | .667 | Advance to playoffs |
2 | AS Douanes (H) | 6 | 3 | 3 | 409 | 385 | +24 | .500 [b] | |
3 | US Monastir | 6 | 3 | 3 | 437 | 450 | −13 | .500 [b] | |
4 | APR | 6 | 2 | 4 | 432 | 471 | −39 | .333 |
Team | Location | Conference appearances |
---|---|---|
AS Douanes | Dakar, Senegal | 3 |
APR | Kigali, Rwanda | 1 |
US Monastir | Monastir, Tunisia | 3 |
Rivers Hoopers | Port Harcourt, Nigeria | 1 |
Although no official trophy or title is awarded, the team ending at the top of the standings in the conference is lauded as "Conference winners" by the BAL.
Season | Winners | Conference record | Playoffs result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
2022 (Details) | REG (RWA) | 4–1 (.800) | Lost in quarter-finals | [1] |
2023 (Details) | Stade Malien (MLI) | 3–2 (.600) | Won third place game | [2] |
2024 (Details) | Rivers Hoopers (NGR) | 4–2 (.667) | Won third place game |
Team | Titles | Season(s) won |
---|---|---|
REG | 1 | 2022 |
Stade Malien | 1 | 2023 |
Rivers Hoopers | 1 | 2024 |
^ | Denotes team that won the BAL championship |
+ | Denotes team that lost in the BAL finals |
* | Denotes team that qualified for the BAL playoffs |
Season | Positions (by team) | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | |
2022 | REG* (4–1) | Monastir^ (4–1) | AS Salé* (3–2) | SLAC* (3–2) | Ferroviário (1–4) | DUC (1–4) |
2023 | Stade Malien* (3–2) | AS Douanes + (3–2) | REG* (3–2) | ABC Fighters* (3–2) | Monastir (3–2) | Kwara Falcons (0–5) |
2024 | Rivers Hoopers* (4–2) | AS Douanes* (3–3) | US Monastir* (3–3) | APR (2–4) | – |
The Basketball Africa League (BAL) is the premier men's basketball league in Africa. Founded in 2019, the league was established and is co-organized by NBA Africa and the International Basketball Federation (FIBA).
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.
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