Al Ahli Tripoli advance to the 2025 BAL Playoffs

Al Ahli Tripoli has made it to the 2025 Basketball Africa League (BAL) playoffs. On Thursday, they beat Nairobi City 104-91 to secure the Nile Conference’s first postseason ticket.

It was the second conference game between Tripoli and Nairobi, with Tripoli imposing their dominance from start to finish.

Similar to their first meeting, Al Ahli Tripoli stepped onto the court with a sense of urgency. They jumped to a 6-0 lead in the first 45 seconds, which ballooned to 10-2 before the Thunder called a timeout to minimize the damage.

However, the Tripoli team was on a mission to secure their playoff spot and was undeterred by Nairobi City Thunder’s attempts to contest the result.

The Libyan champions made an initial statement with a 15-point lead at the break and closed the game with a 100-plus win over the Thunder in less than a week.

Jean Jacques Boissy delivered another stellar performance, finishing with a game-high 26 points off the bench.

Tripoli’s team captain, Mohamed Sadi, came up with 23 points, 13 rebounds, and six assists, signing out with a game-high efficiency rating of 33, one more than his teammate, Caleb Agada, who contributed 16 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists, and five steals.

However, it was Al Ahli Tripoli’s four three-pointers in the third quarter that separated the teams as Al Ahli Tripoli took an 80-55 lead — their largest of the game.

Al Ahli Tripoli improved to 4-0 with two games left, while Nairobi City Thunder remained winless in four games.

With Al Ahli Tripoli’s postseason qualification, the second playoff spot in the Nile Conference is still up for grabs.

For the third game in a row, Nairobi City was unable to contain Boissy’s scoring prowess.

While playing for Burundi’s Urunani in the Road to BAL qualifiers last year, the Senegalese guard scored 28 points against the Thunder.

Last week, he helped Al Ahli Tripoli with a season-high 30 points as they trounced Nairobi City 115-87.

Uchenna Iroegbu finished with a team-high 23 points and Albert Odero added 17, but the Thunder need to win their last two games to stand a chance of clinching a playoff berth.