Aboubakar Gakou scored 19 points, Yannick Moreira added 16 points and eight rebounds and the Basketball Africa League (BAL) defending champion Petro de Luanda (Angola) won their Sahara Conference opener against BAL debutant Kriol Star Basketball (Cape Verde) 103-74 at the Dakar Arena in Senegal this afternoon. Petro outrebounded Kriol Star 41-32 and forced the Star’s 25 turnovers while shooting 52.6 percent from the floor in their first game since lifting the BAL Championship Trophy last June.
In the exhilarating second matchup of the day, the home team ASC Ville de Dakar (Senegal) defeated US Monastir (Tunisia) 70-67. Captain Bara Ndiaye led the Senegalese champions with 15 points, with Abdoulaye Harouna and Will Perry adding 12 points each. Both teams struggled offensively throughout long stretches of the game, but key three-pointers from Perry and Monastir captain Radhouane Slimane down the stretch kept the game close till the end. Dakar outrebounded Monastir 50-41.
The Sahara Conference group phase returns tomorrow when the 2022 BAL champion US Monastir takes on the defending champion Petro de Luanda at 2:30 p.m. GMT (4:30 p.m. CAT) and Kriol Star Basketball faces ASC Ville de Dakar at 5:30 p.m. GMT (7:30 p.m. CAT).
The 2025 BAL season is reaching fans in 214 countries and territories in 17 languages through free-to-air and paid TV broadcast partnerships, including on Canal+, ESPN, FIBA’s digital platform Courtside 1891 and livestreaming on the NBA App, NBA.com, BAL.NBA.com and the BAL’s YouTube channel.
