DAKAR, Senegal -- Tunisia's US Monastir sealed their place in the Basketball Africa League (BAL) playoffs on Sunday with a 73-62 win over Nigeria's Rivers Hoopers, while AS Douanes wrapped up their place with a 79-54 win over Rwanda's APR.
The presidents of Rwanda (Paul Kagame) and Senegal (Bassirou Diomaye Faye) were in attendance for the final day of the Sahara Conference, and luckily for Senegalese hosts Douanes, they could give their president the gift of a win.
In the early tip-off, Monastir started strongest and led 15-2 in the early stages and 19-13 at the end of the first quarter. Rivers Hoopers stayed in the game until half-time, when they trailed 38-33.
However, Monastir took control in the third quarter - after which they led 56-42. Rivers Hoopers - who were without Will Perry due to an injury he sustained as the Nigerian champions sealed their playoff spot with a Saturday win over APR - tried to fight back in the fourth quarter with BAL Elevate player David Ugonna Ike playing a key role.
Nevertheless, Monastir had created too much daylight to be reeled in and won 73-62 with 2011 Los Angeles Lakers draft pick Ater Majok starring with 18 points and 16 rebounds.
"Majok is, for us, a very important player. He's very experienced. He has played in the BAL for four seasons... He gives all the experience all the time on and off the court and tonight, he was great," said Monastir head coach Mohamed El-Kirdani in the post-match press conference.
Both Senegalese and Rwandan fans turned up in numbers for the late tip-off. Mike Fofana was in hot scoring form for Douanes and Axel Mpoyo for APR, but Douanes had the better of the first half collectively and went into half-time 44-28 ahead.
APR, who were without injured backcourt duo Obadiah Noel and Adonis Filer, struggled to find a way back into the game from there. They trailed 63-46 at the end of the third quarter and offered little resistance in an abysmal fourth quarter as Douanes wrapped up a comfortable 79-54 win.
Fofana finished with 27 points and Harouna 18 for Douanes, while Mpoyo scored 22 for APR.
Rivers Hoopers topped the Sahara Conference with four wins and two defeats, while AS Douanes finished second on head-to-head and Monastir third, with APR bottom of the pile and the only team in Dakar not to qualify.
FUS Rabat (Morocco), Petro de Luanda (Angola) and Cape Town Tigers (South Africa) all qualified from the Kalahari Conference in Pretoria. In Cairo's Nile Conference, Egypt's Al Ahly and Libya's Al Ahly Benghazi booked their spots.
The Tigers qualified via the third-place team rankings along with Monastir, while Bangui (Central African Republic) were the only third-placed team to miss out due to their inferior head-to-head record against fellow top three teams in their conference relative to those of Monastir and the Tigers.
The Tigers had a defeat to Burundi's Dynamo BBC fall off their record as Dynamo were ultimately disqualified from the BAL over their refusal to wear kits promoting Visit Rwanda amid political tension between the countries.
For the first time, the playoffs later this month will be held without a representative from Rwanda despite them hosting for a fourth successive year.
In the shortened 2021 tournament held exclusively in Kigali, Patriots BBC made the semi-finals. The following two years saw REG represent Rwanda but bow out in the quarter-finals on home soil after making the playoffs.