What’s at stake on the last day of the 2024 Nile Conference?

Al Ahly Ly head coach Ivan Jeremic remains upbeat about his team’s chances of advancing to the Playoffs in May in Kigali.

The Libyan champions will conclude their 2024 Nile Conference taking on City Oilers on Saturday in what will be the two teams’ second encounter of the season at Hassan Mostafa Sports Complex in Cairo.

When Oilers and Ah Ahly Ly met on April 22, the Libyan champions prevailed 79-68.

Jeremic’s side lost to the reigning BAL champions Al Ahly SC on Friday night to drop to 2-3.

They currently rank third behind Bangui Sporting Club (3-2), and beating City Oilers is now their utmost goal to extend their season beyond April 27.

“We are going to give our best to try and win the game and qualify to the next round,” the Serbian insisted.

Jo-Lual Acuil, one of the few players to average double-doubles after five games in the Nile Conference, says “The most important thing for us is winning the next game and that’s what we are going to focus on.”

City Oilers, meanwhile, dropped to the 1-4, and have no chance of securing any of the two spots that qualify automatically to the next round.

In the second game of the day, BAL reigning champions Al Ahly SC will take on the high-flying Bangui Sporting Club, vying to cement their exceptional campaign.

The Nile Conference hosts hold an overall 8-2 home record dating back to last season, and beating Bangui SC in front of their fans would represent a sign of gratitude for the tireless support of their fans over the last eight days of competition.

However, Bangui Sporting Club head coach Francois Enyengue insists that his team is on a mission: “We came to the second leg [of the Nile Conference] with the mentality of winning every game, and we are on track to achieve this objective,” the Cameroonian said.

“It will be extra satisfying to beat the defending champions, but we’ll prepare it like any other game.”

According to the BAL regulations the teams that finish in the top two places of each conference qualify directly to the playoffys while the two best third-placed teams from across the three conferences will complete the eight-team playoffs line-up.