It's not over until it's over – Gameday 4 PREVIEW

The second round of the 2025 Nile Conference begins on Thursday, May 22, at the BK Arena in Kigali. Two teams are in pole position, but two others remain defiant, arguing that it's not over until it's over.

Libya’s Al Ahli Tripoli leads the conference with a perfect 3-0 record, emerging a step closer to the playoffs in Pretoria, South Africa, next month.

The two teams with the best records in the Nile Conference advance to the playoffs, and the last spot goes to the best third-place team from the Nile or Kalahari Conference.

Hosts APR dropped to 2-1 after losing 90-68 to Al Ahli Tripoli on Tuesday.

South Africa’s MBB (1–2) revived their playoff aspirations by beating Kenya’s Nairobi City Thunder, who remain winless in three games.

Al Ahli Tripoli vs. Nairobi City Thunder (4:00 p.m. local time)

In Thursday’s opening game, the Kenyan champions will attempt to stop Al Ahli Tripoli’s winning streak.

Four days ago, when the two teams faced off, Tripoli dominated throughout the entire game and set a BAL record for most points scored in a game, winning 115-87.

Addressing the media, Thunder head coach Brad Ibs said: “We have three games left, and we are just going to take it one game at a time. Our goal is to improve with each game, and hopefully that will result in some victories.”

Thunder forward Evans Ganapamo agreed, insisting that they need to “clean up the mistakes we made and finish the competition with our heads held high.”

APR v MBB (7:00 pm – local time)

APR may have lost to Al Ahli Tripoli on Tuesday, but the Rwandan champions aren’t expecting a second consecutive loss, even though they might miss Aliou Diarra for a second game in a row due to injury.

Encouraged by their first ever win in the BAL on Tuesday, MBB will try to build on their strong performance against APR.

The BAL debutant put on a solid performance against APR on Sunday. They took a 47–45 halftime lead before falling apart in the second half, when the Rwandan champions locked in defensively and forced them to miss all seven of their three-point attempts in the third quarter.

Can MBB pull off back-to-back wins when they take on APR on Thursday?

MBB head coach Sam Vincent insists that the key is to be patient, play together, and avoid getting overexcited after their first win: "It's exciting, but more importantly, we have to stay focused and keep working, and that's what we're going to do in the next couple of games."

The first 2025 BAL Conference hosts (FUS Rabat and ASC Ville de Dakar) had disappointing results, and APR doesn't expect to be one of them.

"For the next game, we're just going to focus on what didn't work," said APR guard Obadiah Noel.