Few saw it coming, but Cape Town Tigers pulled off the biggest upset of the 2024 BAL season so far by beating FUS Rabat 91-88 in overtime on Sunday night at BK Arena in Kigali.
Eighth-seeded Tigers entered the Quarterfinal match-up as underdogs, but knocking out the No.1 seed team in an electrifying encounter that sent fans into a frenzy has become the biggest achievement for South African basketball.
With the win, the Tigers reached the BAL Semifinals for the very first time after three attempts.
The Moroccan champions rallied from a ten-point deficit (80-70) later in the fourth quarter to take a three-point lead (83-80) with two seconds remaining but Samkelo Cele refused to go down by beating the buzzer to send the game to overtime.
Despite having Cartier Diarra, Ngor Manyang and Abdoulaye Ndoye having four fouls each at the end of the fourth quarter, the Tigers kept their composure to remain in contention for the 2024 BAL top prize.
Tigers guard Dhieu Deng, who helped Cape Town Tigers with 13 points, needed medical assistance on the court, after colliding with an opponent when the clock showed 6:54 minutes left in the regulation. The game was stopped for approximately ten minutes before Deng was stretched off by a medical team.
Cele finished with a game-high of 30 points; Cartier Diarra contributed 15 and Ngor Manyang added 13 points off the bench.
Aliou Diarra recorded his fourth double-double of the season, finishing with 18 points, 16 rebounds while swatting 4 shots, but his effort wasn’t enough to rescue the Moroccan champions.
Teenager Mohamed Sylla, who joined FUS Rabat through the BAL Elevate Program, made his presence felt, finishing with 15 points and 11 rebounds while Jonathan Jordan’s subpar performance proved costly to the Rabat-based team.
“At this stage of the competition there are no easy games. We beat them twice in their home-court in South Africa, but they beat us here in Kigali,” said FUS Rabat guard Soufiane Benmhine, who contributed 10 points off the bench.
Benmhine continued his reflection on the loss that ended the Moroccan’s BAL title dream, saying: “It’s a tough loss because we believe that we are one of the best teams in the league. We are very disappointed to be out at this stage of the competition. But it’s ok, we win together, and we lose together. We have to move on because we have the Moroccan Championship to fight for.”
Tigers center Nkosinathi Sibanyoni, who finished with 16 points and set a BAL rebounding record of 25 boards, called the victory a historic moment.
“This win to us is history for us as South Africans. This win is history to us as Cape Town Tigers because for two seasons we never made it to the Semifinals. This win means a lot to us, really,” he said.
Sibanyoni continued: “They beat us twice because they out-rebounded us. This time around, we had to get more rebounds and score the ball.”
Cape Town Tigers will face Al Ahly Ly in the Semifinals while FUS Rabat return home with a 4-2 mark.
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