Al Ahli Tripoli becomes the first African team to reach the Intercontinental podium

Three months after winning the 2025 Basketball Africa League title, Al Ahli Tripoli made history by becoming the first African team to reach the podium in the FIBA Continental Cup.

The Libyan team beat Brazilian side Flamengo 91–82 in the third-place play-off at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Singapore.

The reigning BAL champions trailed for most of the second and third quarters.

However, when reigning BAL Most Valuable Player (MVP) Jean-Jacques Boissy scored a lay-up to give Al Ahli Tripoli an 80–79 lead with 3:19 minutes remaining, the Brazilian champions never took the lead again.

Immediately after Puerto Rican international player Ismael Romero scored one of his two free throws, Boissy followed up with a three-pointer to extend the BAL champions' lead to 84–79 with just under two minutes remaining.

The long-awaited second win for an African team was starting to become a reality.

Then, former Kriol Star and Cape Verdean international Ivan Almeida then sealed the win with a one-handed dunk.

Makur Maker led Al Ahli Tripoli with 21 points and 12 rebounds; Ivan Almeida added 21 points and six rebounds; Boissy contributed 19 points; Marcos Knight came up with 16 points; and Ismael Romero, who played most of the fourth quarter on the foul limit, finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds.

Meanwhile, the reigning FIBA Basketball Champions League Americas (BCLA) MVP, Alexey Borges, who recently helped Brazil win the 2025 FIBA Americup, scored 13 points.

His national teammate, Gui Deodato, and Markeith Cummings, the 2024 BAL champion with Petro de Luanda, contributed 14 points each.

Since FIBA extended the Intercontinental Cup to African teams in 2022, four teams from three African countries have had mixed results, although none have gone as far as Al Ahli Tripoli.

Egypt’s Zamalek, the first African team to feature in the FIBA Intercontinental Cup, lost both their games in 2022. A year later, Tunisian perennial champions US Monastir returned home having lost both their games.

However, after the number of participating teams increased from four to six and the event was moved to September 2023, Egypt’s Al Ahly SC became the first African team to win a game in the tournament, beating the NBA G League United team 82–76. The Egyptian giants finished fourth with a 1–2 record.

Al Ahli Tripoli's victory over Flamengo was the second consecutive win for a BAL champion against a FIBA Basketball Champions League Americas (BCLA) team, following Petro de Luanda's 70-64 win over Asociación Atlética Quimsa of Argentina last year.

Spain's Unicaja won the 2025 FIBA Intercontinental by defeating NBA G League United 71-61. It was Unicaja’s back-to-back title.