The wait is over as the Basketball Africa League (BAL) is set to return for its fourth consecutive season with a number of exciting new additions to its schedule.
In addition to the Nile Conference (Cairo, Egypt) and Sahara Conference (Dakar, Senegal), the Basketball Africa League Season 4 will tip off on Saturday, March 9 with the inaugural Kalahari Conference in Pretoria, South Africa.
ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE BAL KALAHARI CONFERENCE
It comprises Petro de Luanda from Angola, South Africa’s Cape Town Tigers, Burundi’s Dynamo Basketball Club and FUS Rabat from Morocco.
The four teams will face each other twice between 9 and 17 March at SunBet Arena in Pretoria.
And to remain in contention to the Basketball Africa League’s much sought-after title, teams must finish in the top-two places of each conference or finish among the best two third-placed teams to qualify to the playoffs in May at BK Arena in Kigali.
But, how did the Kalahari Conference qualify to the BAL Season 4?
Unlike, Petro de Luanda, who secured their place in the Basketball Africa League for a record fourth straight season by virtue of winning the Angolan League, Cape Town Tigers, Dynamo, FUS Rabat went through a FIBA-run qualifying process (Road to the BAL) to enter the continent’s clubs premier basketball competition.
This makes the Kalahari Conference the only one with three teams from the Road to Basketball Africa League.
CAPE TOWN TIGERS (South Africa)
The Tigers (5-0), who are making their third straight appearance in the league, had a perfect Road to the BAL Elite 16 campaign in the East Division, beating Dynamo, Pazi Basketball Club (Tanzania), NBA Academy Africa, COSPN (Madagascar), and City Oilers (Uganda).
DYNAMO BASKETBALL CLUB (Burundi)
Dynamo, meanwhile, faced a journey like no other to qualify to the Basketball Africa League Season 4.
After finishing second in Dar es Salaam’s Group C behind hosts Pazi, the Burundian champions were awarded a wild card by FIBA Africa to complete the East Division Elite 16’s field.
In addition to their 2-1 mark from the preliminary round, Dynamo secured the last slot for the BAL Season 4 thanks to a nail-biting 79-78 win over COSPN in the East Division’s Third-Place Game.
In the process, Dynamo became the first Burundian side team to qualify to the Basketball Africa League.
FUS RABAT (Morocco)
FUS Rabat (4-1) finished second in the West Division’s Elite 16 after losing to Bangui Sporting Club (Central African Republic) in the final, although they had beaten the Central African Republic champions in the Group Phase.
The Rabat-based side edged out ABC Fighters (Cote d’Ivoire), SLAC (Guinea) and FAP (Cameroon).
FUS Rabat are the second Moroccan side – since AS Salé – to qualify to the Basketball Africa League.
Basketball Africa League – Kalahari Conference Fixtures
Day one (Saturday, 9 March)
— Petro de Luanda vs FUS de Rabat, 16:00
— Cape Town Tigers vs Dynamo BBC, 19:00
Day two (Sunday, 10 March)
— Dynamo BBC vs FUS de Rabat, 16:00
— Petro de Luanda vs Cape Town Tigers, 19:00
Day three (Tuesday, 12 March)
— Dynamo BBC vs Petro de Luanda, 16:00
— Cape Town Tigers vs FUS de Rabat, 19:00
Day four (Thursday, 14 March)
— Dynamo BBC vs Cape Town Tigers, 16:00
— FUS de Rabat vs Petro de Luanda, 19:00
Day six (Saturday, 16 March)
— Cape Town Tigers vs Petro de Luanda, 16:00
— FUS de Rabat vs Dynamo BBC, 19:00
Day seven (Saturday, 16 March)
— Petro de Luanda vs Dynamo BBC, 16:00
— FUS de Rabat vs Cape Town Tigers, 19:00
