Former Patriots Basketball club shooting-guard Chris Crawford has joined Libyan outfit Al Ahly Benghazi ahead of the qualifiers of the Basketball Africa League (BAL).

The American featured for the Patriots during the 2022 Rwanda Basketball league playoffs which they lost to eventual champions Rwanda Energy Group (REG).

Al Ahly Benghazi has been doing good trades to reinforce their roster for the BAL qualifiers. The addition of Crawford follows the signing of Ivorian point guard Souleyman Diabate and South Sudanese-Lebanese center Ater Majok. The latter also played for Patriots during the just-concluded 2023 Rwanda Basketball League playoffs.

Crawford’s new team will compete in the West Division Elite 16 due from October 31 to November 5 at Palais Polyvalent des sports de Yaoundé in the Cameroonian capital city, and will determine the three teams that will represent the region at the BAL Final Round.

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"We’re Super excited to announce the signing of American guard Chris Crawford,” the Libyan club announced via its social media platforms on Monday.

Meanwhile, teams that competed in the previous BAL edition will automatically qualify for the Second Round Elite 16 should they earn the right to represent their respective countries in the qualifiers.

Al Ahly Benghazi is among six teams that qualified for the West Division Elite 16. Other participants include ABC Fighters (Cote d'Ivoire), Stade Malien (Mali), SLAC (Guinea), Al Ahly Benghazi (Libya) and FUS Rabat (Morocco).