Unexpectedly, The defending champions, Egypt’s Al Ahly team are out of the BAL Tournament after being eliminated by Al Ahly Ly in the ¼ final game held in BK-Arena.
This team, which is considered as a giant on the continent, was defeated by Al Ahly Ly from Libya, which participated in the Basketball Africa League (BAL) for the first time.
There won’t be back-to-back BAL titles for Al Ahly SC as the reigning champions crashed out in Sunday’s first Quarterfinals against Libya’s Al Ahly Ly.
Al Ahly Ly came up with a well-revised homework after losing their two games to Al Ahly SC during the 2024 Nile Conference last month in Cairo.
Al Ahly SC, who tried to become the first BAL team to win back-to-back titles, led by 3 early in the second quarter, but the Libyan champions turned things around in the third quarter to win 86-77.
This was Al Ahly SC’s biggest losing margin in BAL history.
Even playing without sharpshooter Kevin Murphy was an issue for Al Ahly Ly.
They used a 12-0 run, kept Al Ahly SC scoreless for 4:15 minutes the third quarter and closed the game out with a thunderous Jo-Lual Acuil Jr’ block on Mark Lyons who tried to rescue Al Ahly SC from a deep hole they found themselves later in the fourth.
Majok Deng was a rebound shy of a double-double, finishing with a game-high of 25 points while contributing 9 rebounds.
Al Ahly Ly’s newest addition Robert Golden caught fire from behind the arc, shooting 5-for-9 to finish with 23 points while dishing out 9 assists, and Jo-Lual Acuil Jr recorded his fourth double-double of the season, finishing with 23 points and 11 rebounds.
Al Ahly SC guar Mark Lyons later admitted that beating Al Ahly Ly for the straight time this season was probably their biggest challenge.
“It’s hard to beat a team three times, especially a team that good,” said Lyons who finished with 8 points and a game-high of 10 assists.
He continued: “They played good.. They hit some key shots in the second half to put them up 11 points.. Even with us starting to make a comeback, it was too late. Credit to Al Ahly Ly, they are a good and talented team.”
Al Ahly Ly finished the opening quarter 0-4 from long-range, but they improved to 3-for-5 with Golden burying two straight threes to help the Libyan champions to a 38-36 halftime lead.
Majok Deng, who had a man-of-the-match performance received an extra help from the sidelines, where his countryman Luol Deng gave some valuable instructions.
“They were in zone, and I was in a bit passive, and was passing the ball. [Luol Deng] He knows how well I shoot the ball, especially in the middle. For a person like him, a person with a great basketball mind, of course I listen to him.”
Deng went to reflect on the importance of the BAL debutant reaching the Semifinals. He said: “It was great win. We were down without [Kevin] Murphy. We all had to step up, that’s a big point that we were missing. For us to beat a well-coached team like Al Ahly SC, we had to come with a great mindset from the start.”
“They beat us twice, we had to get one back, but controlling the tempo was the main thing. In the first half they out-rebounded us.. We just needed to slow the game down, so we can be on our tempo.“
While Al Ahly SC return home empty-handed, Al Ahly Ly will return to action on Wednesday, May 29.
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