“Nothing has been achieved yet”, says US Monastir’s Ater Majok after their second win in a row

The uncertainty leading up to the last day of the 2024 Sahara Conference has prompted US Monastir center Ater Majok to acknowledge that there’s still work to be done.
 
US Monastir recorded their second straight win in the 2024 Sahara Conference thanks to a 75-69 victory over hosts AS Douanes on Saturday night.
 
The six-point win saw the 2022 BAL champions improve their record to 2-3 and tie APR and AS Douanes in the conference rankings although point-differences still separate the three teams.

After Rivers Hoopers clinched the first Sahara Conference ticket for the playoffs scheduled to take place later this month in Kigali, there are only two spots remaining for three teams.
 
“Nothing has been achieved yet. We still have one more game tomorrow,” said Majok.
 
For a team that lost their first three games in the conference to be in the race for the place in the next, it required a lot of sacrifice, Majok noted.
 
He said: “We started in a bad place. We didn’t have preparation time; we had a new coach [who joined the team two weeks before the Dakar Conference]; new players; it was tough. Now we are on the right path.”
 
The Tunisian champions stepped on the floor with a sense of urgency and never allowed the 2023 BAL finalists AS Douanes to take a lead in the highly contested game.

By the end of the third quarter, US Monastir had scored almost as many points (58) as they recorded in their 76-59 loss to AS Douanes in the first round earlier in the week.
 
US Monastir’s 58-50 lead at the end of the third, Chris Crawford said, was a reflection that “Every possession is important, every minute matters.”
 
“We knew what was at stake, we came out and executed our game plan,” he pointed out.
 
Crawford led his team in scoring with 18 points while dishing out a game-high of 7 assists.
 
Oussama Marnaoui, who returned to the starting line-up, scored 12 of his 16 points from behind arc, and George Attitebi Williams, contributed 13 points off the bench to keep the Tunisia side’s playoffs dream alive.

Just like his teammate Ater Majok, Crawford admitted that it was a big win for them, but he insisted that because they lost to AS Douanes by 17 points in the first round they are still in the fight. “We are still in the hunt. This win was like a championship game. It was not a regular game, that’s what I told everybody on the team.”

“Tomorrow, guess what? It’s another championship game [against Rivers Hoopers].”
 
Sadio Doucoure scored his two field goals, but limped off the court with 1:34 minute left in the second and didn’t return to the game due to a right foot ankle.

 Abdoulaye Harouna came up with some big shots, finishing with a game-high of 22 points, but the Tunisians side proved tough to defeat.
 
Not even a tireless home crowd stopped the former BAL champions from finishing on top.
 
Crawford, who played for AS Douanes last season, said: “You can’t let the crowd get into it; They are the sixth defender. It was beautiful for me because if you let them get into the game, it can be a long night for you.”
 
US Monastir will face Rivers Hoopers in Sunday’s first game (14:00 local time) before AS Douanes take on APR three hours later.