A hard-fought victory that Kriol Star desperately needed

One thing Kriol Star knew after a 29-point loss to reigning champions Petro de Luanda on the opening night of the 2025 Sahara Conference on Saturday was that a bounce-back win was a must.

The Cape Verdean representatives in the current BAL season didn't play the most attractive game, but they achieved their goal by beating home team ASC Ville de Dakar 66-63.

Like every other team in the Sahara Conference, Kriol Star are now 1-1 despite sitting at the bottom of the standings with a -26 point differential.

How did Kriol Star pull off such an incredible win in front of a raucous home crowd that nearly filled all 15,000 seats in the Dakar Arena?

A tremendous fighting spirit, consistent defensive gameplan and an increase in their physical game played a big part in Kriol Star's first win in the Basketball Africa League (BAL).

Kriol Star came out ready to face whatever adversity came their way, and by holding ASC Ville de Dakar to 2-for-21 shooting from three-point range in the first half, Hugo Salgado's men went into the locker room with a 33-32 lead.

At this stage of the game, there were some flashy plays here and there, but it was the last five minutes that really kept the fans on the edge of their seats.

And when Will Perry sank a pair of free-throws to put ASC Ville de Dakar up 63-61 with 1:54 left on the clock, there was a huge sigh of relief on the faces of many fans, except for Richaud Pack, who responded with a free-throw of his own to tie the game at one.

Little did ASC Ville de Dakar know that Perry's free-throw would be the last point scored by the hosts, as Kriol Star went on a 5-0 scoring run to close out the game.

What followed after Perry missed a potential three-pointer that would have sent the game into overtime was a historic moment for the Cape Verdean team.

Emotions ran high among the Kriol Star players after the final buzzer, but the toughest obstacle to overcome was history.

Pack led the way with 10 of his team-high 19 points coming from the charity stripe, and Joel Almeida shot 5-for-9 from behind the arc to finish with a game-high 16 points.

Perry led all players in scoring with 23 points, while Pape Boye and Ater Majok each added 10 points for the hosts.

"This is a big win for us, especially after the way we came out yesterday and a lot of people kind of overlooked us," said Kriol Star guard Cameron Parker, who finished with 10 points.

A first-time visitor to Africa, Parker described the atmosphere at the Dakar Arena as "the craziest environment I have ever been in; hearing the drums, people dancing, the whole city coming out for it, it was crazy.”

Both Kriol Star and ASC Ville de Dakar now have a 1-1 record, with four games remaining for each team.

"This was a super tough win. I am really proud of this team," said Parker.

"The improvement we made in the last 14 hours between the last game and this one was huge," the American stressed.

"You can never get too high; you can never get too low. This win is a confidence booster; we just take it one game at a time."

When asked what aspect of the game separated Kriol Star from ASC Ville de Dakar, Parker said: "Our defense really kept us in the game. You could tell in the last few possessions that we really locked it down. Even when we were struggling offensively, we knew that if our defense held, the offense would come eventually."

And what does the win mean to Kriol Star and Parker? "The postseason dream in South Africa is alive. We take it one game at a time. If you lose the first game, people will say, 'Damn! You will not make the playoffs.

Kriol Star will resume their Sahara Conference campaign on Tuesday, April 29 against US Monastir, while ASC Ville de Dakar will take on Petro de Luanda.