Al Ahly Ly Outplay Dar City To Bounce Back And Revive Chances Of BAL Playoffs Slot
PRETORIA, South Africa, Mar 31 – Al Ahly Libya recorded their first win at the ongoing 2026 Basketball Africa League Kalahari Conference in Pretoria to revive their hopes of booking a slot in the playoffs scheduled for Kigali, Rwanda, in May.
The Libyan champions had to wait for their third game to end a winless run after dominating high-flying Dar City of Tanzania 118-17 at the SunBet Arena.
Al Ahly Libya outclassed the Tanzanian side in all the quarters, seeing six of their players hit double digits.
Donovan Williams and Majok Deng contributed 22 points apiece while 2024 BAL MVP, Jo Lual Acuil, came up with his third consecutive double-double performance, finishing with 20 points and 14 rebounds.
Other players who contributed to the double digits are reigning BAL MVP Jean Jacques Boissy, who recorded 18 points despite starting on the bench; Damion De’von Baugh scored 16 points, had 6 rebounds, and provided 18 assists, while captain Sofian Fathi Hamad registered 11 points.
Al Ahly Libya won the rebound contest 47-32, while Dar’s Michael Foster was the highest point scorer of the night with 37 points.
Al Ahly Ly were facing a must-win scenario after losing their first two games against the RSSB Tigers and Petro de Luanda.
“It was very important for us to win this game. It was either win or go home. We’ll focus on the next ones. Win! That was our mindset coming into this game. No matter what, it was all about winning this game. We have to play the same way we played tonight. Let’s just get the next two wins and, hopefully, we’ll qualify for the playoffs,” Baugh said.
Baugh credited his performance to his teammates, who kept pushing him. “Credit to my teammates, and I feel good about my performance,” he added.
Dar City looked nothing like the team that had outplayed Nairobi City and the Johannesburg Giants to enter Tuesday’s game with a 2–0 record.
The Tanzanians’ slow start, coupled with their poor shooting (0-for-5 from the floor), was a stark contrast to Al Ahly Ly’s scoring prowess.
By halftime, Junior Madut was the only Dar City player to have scored in double digits with 12 points, while Donovan Williams had propelled Al Ahly Ly with 17.
This was the first time this season that Al Ahly Ly conceded fewer than 100 points. They also became the first team to score over 104 points this season.
This was also the game with the most points combined (215), surpassing the 213 registered in APR’s 123-90 win over Al Ittihad Alexandria last year.
-Alex Isaboke is reporting from Pretoria, South Africa-
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