Basketball Africa League (BAL) Debutant Ville de Dakar Stun Defending Champion Petro de Luanda on Day 3 of Sahara Conference

Makhtar Gueye had 16 points and 11 rebounds, Abdoulaye Harouna added 15 points and Ater Majok added 14 points and six rebounds, and the BAL debutants Ville de Dakar (Senegal) (www.BAL.NBA.com) stunned the defending champion Petro de Luanda (Angola) at Dakar Arena, winning their first head-to-head matchup in the competition 65-64. It was ASC Ville de Dakar’s second win over a BAL champion, and their second win in this year’s Sahara Conference, having defeated US Monastir 70-67 on the opening night on Saturday. Dakar nearly squandered their morale-boosting victory after committing two consecutive eight-second violations in the final moments of the game, but Petro de Luanda failed to capitalize on it. Patrick Gardner led Petro with 19 points and nine rebounds.

In an earlier game yesterday, 2022 BAL champion US Monastir (Tunisia) defeated Kriol Star (Cape Verde) 88-72. Monastir converted 47.8 percent of their shots. led by Patrick Hardy Jr. (19 points and five assists) and Firas Lahyani (15 points, eight rebounds). Ivan Almeida led the Star with a game-high 22 points and 12 rebounds, with Patrick McGlynn adding 18 points.

The BAL Sahara Conference group phase will resume on Thursday, 1 May when Petro de Luanda takes on US Monastir at 2:30 p.m. GMT (4:30 p.m. CAT) and ASC Ville de Dakara faces Kriol Star at 5:30 p.m. GMT (7:30 p.m. CAT) on Canal+, ESPN, FIBA’s digital platform Courtside 1891 and livestreaming on the NBA App (http://apo-opa.co/4juT5vb), NBA.com, BAL.NBA.com and the BAL’s YouTube channel (http://apo-opa.co/3EEzUjz).

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Basketball Africa League (BAL).

Postgame media availabilities:
US Monastir v Kriol Star (http://apo-opa.co/3YnwkB2)
Ville de Dakar v Petro de Luanda (http://apo-opa.co/42LKwXf)

Sahara Conference Standings:
BAL.nba.com