Hosts FUS Rabat improve to 2-0 in front of a packed arena

What a difference a year makes! Twelve months ago, FUS Rabat found themselves winless two games into the Basketball Africa League (BAL) season, but on Sunday the hosts of the 2026 Sahara Conference secured their second straight win, beating Maktown Flyers 97-72.

With the win, FUS Rabat became the one of the two undefeated teams - along with Club Africain - before the Sahara Conference heads to a rest day on Monday. 

Abdoulaye Harouna and Will Perry led FUS Rabat, combining for 50 points. 

The Nigerian champions dropped to 1-1.

For the second time in a row, the Moulay Abdellah arena was filled with local fans in support of FUS Rabat.

On the court, Perry, Harouna and the rest of the squad responded to their fans' support with some impressive plays.

Although Maktown scored their first nine points from deep and took their largest lead of the game (9–2), FUS Rabat never panicked. By the end of the opening quarter, they were leading 23–19 and never trailed again. 

Perry and Harouna converted 11 of FUS Rabat’s 13 three-pointers, finishing with 24 and 26 points respectively.

“We can feel the energy of our fans — it’s an amazing feeling! It’s not just FUS Rabat fans who have come to support us; we have fans from all over Morocco, and that gives us huge encouragement to keep fighting and moving forward,” said FUS Rabat guard Soufiane Benmhine.

Benmhine went on to explain what makes this season different from last year.

According to Benmhine, “'The difference between last season and this one is that we don't have the same pressure as last year.  This year, we have experience, which is making things easier for us.”

FUS Rabat played without Abdelhakim Zouita, who was injured in the opening game against JCA Kings. Nevertheless, the Moroccan champions were able to respond to every attempt by Maktown to retake the lead.

“They were a little more patient. They have really good chemistry,” said Maktown Flyers guard Tyrell Corbin who finished with a joint team-high 13 points.  

“You can tell because they have been playing together for a long time, whereas we have only been playing together since the beginning of April. They have great chemistry; they moved the ball around more, which created open shots for them. When we were down, we tried to play one-on-one. I think that was the difference between the two teams.”

What exactly went wrong for the Maktown Flyers, a team with a reputation for strong starts?

“I wouldn’t say it’s a rhythm thing. I think the way our team is set up means we try to start fighting immediately,” Corbin explained.

“Everyone on our team is really aggressive. The other team was trying to figure us out at the start of the game while we were in attack mode. If we had open shots, we were probably going to take them. Yesterday it worked out for us; today, we had some good looks early on, but then the other team started to make adjustments.”

The Nigerian champions spent the majority of the game trailing while FUS Rabat looked more composed.

Corbin remains upbeat about the team’s future in the Sahara Conference. “I am feeling very positive. We have three more games left. We need to put this loss behind us and try to win the next three games,” he concluded.