Reigning champions Petro de Luanda pass tough Ville de Dakar test

Petro de Luanda did their homework to perfection and passed what was initially billed as the toughest test for the reigning Basketball Africa League champions.

ASC Ville de Dakar fans filled most of the 15,000-seat Dakar Arena, chanting, shouting and dancing throughout the game, but the Angolan champions never looked bothered.

Sahara Conference 2025 hosts ASC Ville de Dakar came back from an 18-point deficit to trail by five mid-way through the fourth quarter, but Petro de Luanda head coach Sergio Moreno called a combination of timely timeouts, and his team regained control of the game.

In the end, Petro de Luanda prevailed 76-67 to improve to 3-2, while ASC Ville de Dakar fell to 2-3 with one conference game remaining.

Saturday’s game happened four days after Petro de Luanda's 65-64 loss to ASC Ville de Dakar.

Aware of the challenges ahead, Petro de Luanda took control of the game early and never looked back.

Cleusio Castro, who didn't play a single second in Petro de Luanda's loss to Ville de Dakar, gave the Angolans a huge boost by battling Ater Majok in the paint when Yanick Moreira picked up three early fouls.

Castro, for many the hero of Petro de Luanda's BAL title game last season, shot 3-for-4 and added four rebounds to finish with seven points.

Rigoberto Mendoza led the victors with 14 points, while Patrick Gardner, Glofate Buiamba and Solo Diabate added 13 apiece.

Meanwhile, Will Perry led ASC Ville de Dakar with a game-high 18 points in the absence of lethal scorer Abdoulaye Harouna, who limped off with a foot injury in the second half and was seen with scratches after the game.

It was Petro de Luanda's second straight win in the 2025 Sahara Conference.

"Our aggressive and disciplined defensive plan got us the win today. We were really locked in defensively," Buiamba told BAL.NBA.COM.

"Not even the home crowd bothered us, that's how focused we were," he added.

Samba Fall, who gave ASC Ville de Dakar hope at one point with his successful three-point shots, later admitted that a lack of focus cost them the game.

"We made a lot of mistakes at the beginning of the game and those mistakes cost us the game," said the former AS Douanes shooting guard.

"We couldn't make shots; we couldn't box out and we couldn't rebound. These differences explain the huge difference in scoring at halftime," said Fall, who finished with 17 points.

Buiamba went on to say that Petro de Luanda's first loss to ASC Ville de Dakar was a valuable lesson for the rest of the conference.

"Compared to our last game against Dakar," the 6-foot-6 Buiamba stressed: "we attacked the basket more instead of shooting from long range. We forced their big players into foul trouble, which made it easier for us to win today."

Looking back at Petro de Luanda's losses to US Monastir and ASC Ville de Dakar earlier in the conference, Buiamba acknowledged the merit of their opponents: "We lost two games, but we didn't play badly; the other teams deserved those wins."

Fall said that nothing is lost yet as they focus on their next opponents, US Monastir on Sunday.

"We appreciated our fans support; we really wanted to give them this win, but bad days happen in sports. Today was one of those days, but we have another chance tomorrow and that's our focus."

"We can't allow Monastir to go on a scoring spree and let them outscore us in the beginning of the game, otherwise it will kill our mood; we have to fight from the start and fight until the end," concluded Fall.