Deng makes it rain as Al Ittihad improve to 2-0

Stade Malien had Al Ittihad’s backs against the wall, but they shot themselves in the foot to fall to 0-2 in the 2025 Kalahari Conference.

The Malian champions seemed to be in total control for most of the first three quarters, but a disastrous final quarter in which they turned the ball over 7 times saw Al Ittihad come back to win 72-69.

Stade Malien had only six turnovers in the first quarters but finished with 13.

To make matters worse for Les Blancs de Bamako, their perimeter defense was nowhere to be seen as Majok Deng made it rain, shooting 5-for-8 from behind the arc to lead all players with 21 points.

"We lost the game in transition defence and turnovers late in the game. We should have kept that energy. Breaking in transition and losing the ball," said Cartier Diarra, who led Stade Malien with 19 points.

Al Ittihad's hero Majok faced some adversity early in the game, but he fought back with an impressive display.

After picking up his second foul midway through the second quarter, forcing coach Ahmed Soliman to take him out of the game to prevent an early exit, Majok Deng came back in the third quarter to completely change the narrative of the game.

But Deng wasn't the only one to save the Egyptian champions from a potentially shocking defeat. Anas Mahmoud, who had been expected to sit out due to an undisclosed injury, was forced into the game in the third quarter.

He made an immediate impact with two straight blocked shots before finding Majok, who finished a fast break with a thunderous two-handed dunk to give Al Ittihad a commanding 2-point lead (63-61) they would never relinquish.

It was an uncharacteristic game for Al Ittihad, who started with a different lineup to the one they used against FUS Rabat.

But with things going Stade Malien's way early on, Soliman turned to George King and Majok Deng, who immediately cut their deficit to just three points (17-14) after trailing by as many as six in the first quarter.

Deng was the face of Al Ittihad's transformation in less than 24 hours, following their 71-60 win over hosts FUS Rabat on Saturday night.

At the break, Al Ittihad made more three-pointers (5) than they did in the entire game (4) against FUS Rabat, and Deng's fourth three tied the game at 61-61 with 6 minutes to play.

"I think we can win the next four games. We definitely need to be more prepared and get better every game," Diarra said.

Al Ittihad forward George King, who contributed 9 points, admitted that Stade Malien's mistakes came at the right time.

"We took advantage of their mistakes; they made mistakes late and we were able to capitalize. That's how we won the game tonight".

Commenting on Majok Deng's performance, King said: "That's the beauty of this team. We have talented guys who can have a good night at any given time. Tomorrow can be anyone's night.

Al Ittihad coach Ahmed Soliman admitted that bringing in Anas Mahmoud was a way to save his team.

"On the advice of our doctor, it would be better for Anas to rest because he was injured a day before the game against FUS Rabat.

“He is not 100% healthy. Hopefully he will be ready for our next game. Our rebounding wasn't great, and I had to bring him in. He played about 11 minutes. I shouldn't have done that, but at the same time I wanted to win the game. It was an important game for us to win.”

Al Ittihad face Rivers Hoopers on Tuesday while Stade Malien take on host FUS Rabat.