Al Ahli Tripoli advance to the playoffs with a perfect 6-0

Al Ahli Tripoli became the second team to qualify for the 2025 Basketball Africa League (BAL) playoffs with an undefeated record.

The Libyan champions defeated MBB 102-73, closing their regular season with a perfect 6-0 record.

Last month in Rabat, Morocco, Egypt’s Al Ittihad Alexandria became the first team this season to win all six of their 2025 Kalahari Conference games.

MBB took the court at the BK Arena in Kigali needing a win to secure the conference’s second automatic qualification spot. However, Al Ahli Tripoli never let up, despite a slow start to the game.

This was Al Ahli Tripoli’s second win over MBB; they had previously beaten MBB 87-77 in the first round of the conference last week.

Although there were a few similarities to their first meeting, this time they led by as many as 30 points, compared to their largest lead of 19 points in the first game.

On Sunday, the final day of the conference, MBB briefly took the lead with a fadeaway shot by David Craig (6-4). Then, Jovan Mooring and Pieter Prinsloo followed with three-pointers for their largest lead (14–7) in the opening quarter.

Despite their seven turnovers, things were looking relatively promising for MBB at that stage of the game.

Their shots were falling, and they were contesting every shot. Suddenly, however, Al Ahli Tripoli went on an 11-0 scoring run, giving Tripoli a 23-16 lead at the end of the opening quarter.

Then, Nasseim Badrush and Assem Marei formed a perfect connection, executing constant, indefensible pick-and-rolls.

Marei shot 9-13 to finish with 18 points and 11 rebounds in 22 minutes off the bench. Badrush added nine points and a team-high five assists.

Al Ahli Tripoli guard Jaylen Adams led all players in scoring after shooting 9-of-15 from the field, including 6-of-9 from three-point range, to finish with 28 points. Jean-Jacques Boissy added 17 points off the bench.

Teafale Lenard Jr. led MBB with 18 points. Pieter Prinsloo added 11, and Jovan Mooring was the other MBB player to score in the double digits with 10 points.

MBB finished the Nile Conference with a 2–4 record.

In an interview with BAL.NBA.com, Badrush shared his thoughts on Al Ahli Tripoli’s successful Nile Conference campaign and previewed the BAL Playoffs, which will take place next month in Pretoria, South Africa.

Badrush said: "Although we are happy to have won this conference undefeated, it means nothing for now. Other teams have won their conferences in the past only to lose early in the playoffs."

We can’t assume that we’re better than the other teams. We have to stay humble. The BAL playoffs are a whole different ballgame.”

As we move forward, we must start from zero. It's 0–0 for now. We need to stay focused, or else we'll lose and go home.”

Al Ahli Tripoli, a team that finished undefeated in the Road to BAL qualifiers in November 2024, finished the 2025 BAL regular season as the No.1 seed ahead of Al Ittihad, the No.2

The BAL playoffs will take place from June 6–14 in Pretoria.