May 7, 2026
10 facts you need to know about the recently concluded Sahara Conference
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In addition to hosts FUS Rabat, five teams from five different countries arrived in Rabat, Morocco, ready to compete for one of the four playoff spots available in the 2026 Sahara Conference.
Over the course of eight Game Days, the Moulay Abdellah Arena in the Moroccan capital witnessed buzzer-beater wins, standout individual performances and record numbers of fans flooding in, crowning Rabat one of the continent's basketball hotspots.
This was the second time that the Basketball Africa League (BAL) had taken place in Rabat since its inception in 2021.
Here are 10 facts you need to know about the recently concluded Sahara Conference.
- Al-Ahly (Egypt), ASC Ville de Dakar (Senegal), Club Africain (Tunisia) and FUS Rabat (Morocco) qualified for the 2026 BAL Playoffs, while Maktown Flyers (Nigeria) and JCA Kings (Côte d'Ivoire) were eliminated.
- A total of 34,675 fans attended the 15 games at the Moulay Abdellah Arena in Rabat.
- Club Africain produced a historic performance by beating Al Ahly 69–68, despite trailing by seven points with 15 seconds left on the clock.
- Out of the 15 games played in Rabat, 11 were decided by a margin of less than 10 points.
- The 2026 Sahara Conference entered the BAL history books as the first to feature a double-overtime game, when Al Ahly outlasted FUS Rabat 77–71 on 3 May — the final game of the conference.
- Al Ahly shooting guard Zack Lofton scored a conference-high 32 points in the 85–65 rout of JCA Kings on 1 May.
- After a disappointing performance in the 69–68 loss to Club Africain, during which he was penalised for an unsportsmanlike foul that allowed the Tunisian side to win the game, Al Ahly power forward Makel Abdelgowad set a rebounding record of 18 in the 2026 Sahara Conference, helping his team defeat FUS Rabat 77-71 in double overtime.
- Club Africain playmaker Omar Abada set a conference record with eleven assists in an 86–77 win over the Maktown Flyers.
- Osayi Osifo recorded the highest field goal percentage by a player who attempted eight shots or more in an 89–80 win over the Maktown Flyers. The South African power forward shot 9-for-10 to finish with 20 points, adding eight rebounds.
- No player was more efficient from the three-point line in a single game than James Butler Jr., the shooting guard for the Maktown Flyers, who shot 5-for-5 from deep, although the Nigerian champions fell to Al Ahly, losing 89-80. He finished with 29 points. Zack Lofton of Al Ahly made the most three-point shots in a game (8).
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