10 moments that defined the 2025 Sahara Conference

The end of the 2025 Sahara Conference was not what most expected. It proved once again that the gap between the automatically qualified teams for the Basketball Africa League (BAL) and the teams that qualify through the Road to BAL qualifiers is getting smaller every year.

In this article we look back at 10 moments that defined this year’s Sahara Conference.

KRIOL STAR STUN REIGNING CHAMPIONS PETRO DE LUANDA

Petro de Luanda opened their campaign in remarkable fashion, thrashing BAL debutants Kriol Star 103-74 in the opening game of the Sahara Conference. It was the biggest margin of victory in the conference.

What Petro de Luanda did not expect, however, was to be challenged by Kriol Star's desperation in a way they had never been challenged in their entire BAL history.

Not only did Kriol Star hold Petro de Luanda scoreless for about seven minutes while going on an 18-0 scoring run, but they also opened a 26-point lead at one point before closing out the game 71-69 at the buzzer.

BIGGEST COMEBACK IN BAL HISTORY NOT ENOUGH

Eight days after leading Kriol Star by a staggering 36 points, Petro de Luanda found themselves on the opposite side of the equation, trailing by as many as 26 points on the final day of the conference. To their credit, however, no other team in BAL history has ever come back from such a deficit to take a lead, however short-lived (60-58).

Only two other teams in BAL history have come back from more than 20 points down to take the lead.

On March 11, 2022, AS Sale trailed US Monastir by 20 points but took a one-point lead (78-77) before the Tunisians, who would go on to be crowned champions, closed out the game 96-90.

On April 19, 2022, DR Congo’s Espoir Fukash were down by 22 points before defeating Cape Town Tigers 96-92 in overtime.

ASC VILLE DE DAKAR, THE BEATER OF CHAMPIONS

Sahara Conference hosts ASC Ville de Dakar may have finished last, but they made history as the only team to beat two BAL champions in the same season. They first upset 2022 champions US Monastir (70-67) before stunning 2024 BAL winners Petro de Luanda (65-64).

Ville de Dakar ended their campaign with a 2-4 record and can only be proud of their performance as they did everything in their power to compete.

AS DOUANES REMAINS THE ONLY SENEGALESE TEAM TO ADVANCE TO THE PLAYOFFS

The hosts of the 2022 Sahara Conference, Dakar Universite Club DUC, won just one of their five games to finish last.

Three years later, ASC Ville de Dakar missed out on the postseason, leaving 2023 BAL runners-up AS Douanes as the only Senegalese team to make the playoffs in 2023 and 2024.

CORREIA SETS BAL PLAYING TIME RECORD

A desperate Kriol Star needed its shorthanded roster to do the impossible to qualify for the postseason, and Anderson Correia made his presence felt in style.

Not only did Correia lead the Creoles in scoring with a team-high 16 points, but he also stayed on the floor for the entire 45 minutes to help Kriol Star defeat Petro de Luanda 71-69 in overtime.

Correia is the only player in BAL history to play a full 45-minute overtime game.

WAS KRIOL STAR THE MOST RESILIENT TEAM IN THE 2025 SAHARA CONFERENCE?

The Cape Verdeans were self-proclaimed underdogs, but there was nothing underdog about them. This was evident in their tenacity, which saw them win two games in overtime.

NO UNBEATEN TEAMS IN THE SAHARA CONFERENCE’S HISTORY

Since the introduction of the BAL Conference system, no team in the Sahara Conference has ever finished unscathed.

A year ago, US Monastir finished 3-3, and this year it was Petro de Luanda's turn.

DAKAR ARENA FANS

The fans of FUS Rabat were magnificent, turning out in huge numbers to watch their team play in the 2025 Kalahari Conference in April.

And ASC Ville de Dakar's supporters refused to stay at home, selling out the hosts' first game against US Monastir on April 26 at the 15,000-seat Dakar Arena.

They returned in impressive numbers throughout the conference.

HARDY JR. AND MCGLYNN, THE SCORER MACHINES

Two days after Patrick McGlynn scored a conference-high 29 points to lead Kriol Star to a 95-92 overtime win over ASC Ville de Dakar on May 1, Patrick Hardy Jr. matched his record by leading US Monastir to a 91-83 victory over Kriol Star. No other player came close to scoring as many points in a single game.

LEWIS IGHO UVWO

After playing a total of 12 seconds in the first four games of the conference and 16:48 in Kriol Star's penultimate game of the conference against US Monastir, teenager Lewis Uvwo made the most of his 40:25 minutes to score the winning tap-in against Petro de Luanda.

US Monastir, the victors of the 2025 Sahara Conference, finished with a 4-2 mark; Petro de Luanda and Kriol Star recorded 3-3 marks apiece and hosts ASC Ville de Dakar last in the conference at 2-4.