Petro’s third BAL loss in row raises questions

FUS Rabat inflicted Petro de Luanda their third straight defeat in the Basketball Africa League as the Kalahari Conference got underway on Saturday in Pretoria.

Jone Pedro opened the score with a contested alley-oop for Petro’s only lead of the game, but the Moroccan champions ruled the show with a convincing 82-73 win at SunBet Arena

BAL debutante FUS Rabat’s 7-2 run in the opening minutes triggered the historic win as the Angolan champions searched for unanswered questions for most of the highly-contested game.

Aliou Diarra recorded his ninth double-double in the BAL, finishing with 15 points and 10 rebounds; Jonathan Jordan added 17 points to help FUS Rabat send a statement out.

“We know that Petro is a good three-point shooter team, but our defensive aggression forced them out,” said FUS Rabat Ayoub Nouhi who contributed 9 points.

Nouhi went on calling Diarra "a monster. He has been great for us."

It was Petro de Luanda’s third straight defeat in the BAL since losing to the AS Douanes in the 2023 BAL semi-finals before crushing out to Stade Malien in the Third-Place game.

FUS Rabat forced Petro de Luanda to an unfamiliar experience as the 2022 BAL semi-finalist trailed by 20 points (81-61) for the first time in their BAL experience.  

Although FUS Rabat headed to the halftime break with 41-31 lead and Petro cut the deficit to five later in the third, Jordan's drive to the basket, which was followed by a free-throw, extended FUS's lead to 75-61 with 6:24 minutes left. It was the final straw.

Petro’s third straight loss in the league start to raise questions about the team’s ability to fight back from adversity.  

“We learnt from those losses last season, but we have five more games to play in Pretoria, and I am sure we’ll bounce back,” said an adamant Petro de Luanda forward Aboubacar Gakou who finished with 9 points and 6 rebounds.

Carlos Morais delighted fans inside the SunBet Arena with his game-high 19 points, which included a 3-for-8 shooting from long-range.

Childe Dundao, the other Petro de Luanda player to score in double digits, added 10 points.

Even though FUS Rabat had three turnovers more than Petro, it was the Moroccans’ dominance in the painted area that paid off as they won the rebounding battle 42-34.  

As much as Petro tried to regain the lead, foul trouble for Yanick (4), Carlos Morais (3) and Jone Pedro (3) later in the third quarter limited the two-time African champions’ chances of fighting back.   

Even Petro de Luanda’s alternative zone defense proved fruitless.

Both teams return to action on Sunday with Petro taking on hosts Cape Town Tigers while FUS Rabat go up against Dynamo.