Against all the odds, AS Douanes caused the biggest upset of the BAL season so far after shocking self-proclaimed title contender Petro de Luanda 92-86 to advance to the Championship Game.
Few saw it coming, but AS Douanes always believed they could do something special.
“We’ve proved doubters wrong,” AS Douanes coach Mamadou Gueye said during a post-game press conference.
The Senegalese champions entered Wednesday’s clash as underdogs, but they never looked like it.
They led all but 3:20 minutes of the game.
Petro rallied from a 14-point deficit to cut the deficit to just two points () later in the fourth quarter, but AS Douanes were determined to enter their name to the BAL finalists list.
Gueye knew beforehand that to turn the odds in their favour he would need to come up with an unorthodox gameplan, something Petro never expected.
Gueye gave NBA Academy Africa prospect Khaman Maluach his first-ever BAL starting role, and the seven-footer capitalized from the opportunity.
The 16-year center was 2 for 3 from the floor to finish with seven points and four rebounds in ten minutes.
“I have always trusted him,” Gueye said.
Defensively, AS Douanes outclassed Petro, forcing the Angolan champions to turn the ball over 21 times by the end of the third quarter.
And to make matters worse for Petro, Carlos Morais had an abysmal display. He was 2 for 11 from the floor to finish with six points in 26 minutes.
“I take full responsibility for the loss,” said Petro coach Jose Neto. “We worked really hard to try to win this Championship. The club did everything for us to fight for the title, but things didn’t work out for us.”
“Credit to AS Douanes,” Neto admitted.
Jean Jacques Boissy and Chris Crawford came up with critical shots, leading AS Douanes with 28 and 26 points, respectively.
“They had a good gameplan. Even number 11 [Matthew Bryan-Amaning] helped them with big shots,” Neto said.
Even though Petro made 13 of their 35 three-point shots, missing 7 of their 22 free-throws proved costly to them.
“Defensively we were great. Now, we are just playing our game and try to go as far as possible in this Championship,” Gueye said.
Petro sought a quadruple of the season after winning three domestic competitions, and a 6-0 mark ahead of the Semi-Finals seemed everything they needed to stay confident.
“It’s a sad day for us,” Neto said. “ I tried everything to help them win.”
It was AS Douanes fifth straight win in the current season as they become the first Senegalese club to reach the BAL Final.
Petro return to action on Friday for the Third-Place game of the season.
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