Dakar shock Al Ahly in first of two playoff series

Four weeks after beating ASC Ville de Dakar by four points in the Kalahari Conference, Al Ahly SC were no match for the Senegalese champions and opened their BAL Playoffs campaign with a loss. 

ASC Ville de Dakar prevailed in the first of two quarterfinals’ series, winning 93-90.

Neither team had ever scored or conceded so many points in a game this season, which highlights how hungry the teams are to score. The winner of the two-game series will advance to the semi-finals.

NBA champion Axel Toupane brought his A-game this season, finishing with 21 points, nine rebounds and seven assists to help ASC Ville de Dakar extend their winning streak to 4-0 in the last four games. 

Samba Fall added 18 points and three of his other teammates scored in double digits. 

Both teams took to the court with a sense of urgency, trading baskets at an astonishing pace. Unsurprisingly, the score was 18-11 to Al Ahly four minutes into the game.

Al Ahly went on a scoring spree, leading by seven — their largest lead — in the second quarter, but Dakar fought back after sensing the game was slipping away from them, taking a two-point lead at halftime (47–45).

The fifteen lead changes at the end of the game illustrated how evenly matched it was. 

Oraby shot 4-for-4, including 2-for-2 from deep, but he did not play in the fourth quarter and finished with 12 points.  

Former BAL MVP Nuni Omot led Al Ahly SC in scoring with 23 points; his teammate Kevin Murphy added 22, but their 26–12 disadvantage from the bench proved difficult to overcome. 

Al Ahly SC will need to beat ASC Ville de Dakar by more than three points to advance to the semi-finals. They will finish their quarter-final series on Sunday, 24 May.

WHAT THEY SAID:

Zack Lofton (Al Ahly SC)

This is not the start we wanted. You go to every game thinking you are going to win, but they came out and played harder than us. We want that semi-final spot as badly as anyone else. We just need to play better defensively.

Will Tavares (ASC Ville de Dakar)

It's important that we set the tone, because Al Ahly are a very good team. We stuck to our game plan, and you can see the results.

At times, we played harder than them, which gave us the win. If you want to win the next game, you have to put this one behind you. We have to approach the next one as if we lost this one. We are happy to have won this game, but we want more than one win. Since I arrived, the energy has been positive. Even when we're down, the energy is still positive. 

BAL