Thursday, May 9

APR 70-83 US Monastir

Mazen Trakh’s APR Basketball Club let US Monastir take revenge and beat them 70-83 on Thursday, May 9, to claim their first win in the Basketball Africa League 2024 Sahara Conference going on at the Dakar Arena.

The victory ended the Tunisians’ three-game losing streak after finishing the first round without a win. It is also a result that gave the team the reason to believe again as it kept their hopes of qualifying for the playoffs in Kigali alive.

In the first round of the conference, APR had beaten US Monastir after coming back from a 6-point deficit in the last minute of the game before prevailing 89-84 in overtime.

ALSO READ: Trakh’s verdict after Sahara Conference first round

As the pair went head-to-head again on Thursday night, the Rwandan champions started the game with a 7-0 lead, but US Monastir never lost patience despite trailing for most of the game.

When Dario Hunt was benched after picking up his fourth foul with 2:20 minutes left in the third quarter, APR were never the same again.

The American returned midway through the fourth quarter, but couldn’t rescue the Rwandan champions from the hole they found themselves in due to his foul trouble. He fouled out with 4:22 minutes to play.

ALSO READ: BAL 2024: Noel leads charge as APR silence AS Douanes

When Chris Crawford buried a three-pointer for a 69-56 lead with 4:59 minutes on the clock, APR threw the towel in.

Hunt finished with a team-high of 17 points and Obadiah Noel added 15 in the losing cause.

ALSO READ: Noel steals the show as APR win overtime thriller against US Monastir

The defeat put APR’s hopes of qualifying for the playoffs at home in Kigali in trouble although they have two more games to save their campaign.

After the game, APR guard Adonis Filer, who contributed 9 points and 11 rebounds, admitted that they lost because, "We couldn’t get stops; we gave up some offensive rebounds and we couldn’t make any baskets.”

ALSO READ: BAL 2024: APR "ready for the challenge” vs AS Douanes-Trakh

"We got away from our principles, we gave up some shots that we shouldn’t have given up; they made some big baskets; I am not taking anything away from US Monastir, they are a great team with great players,” he added.

Both APR and US Monastir return to action on Saturday against Rivers Hoopers and AS Douanes respectively after a rest day on Friday.

The Hoopers’ unbeaten run also came to an end following Thursday night’s 54-56 loss to AS Douanes. Both sides were tied at 54-54 until Mike Fofana scored a buzzer beater to win it late for the home side aand for thousands of Seneglese crowds inside the Dakar Arena.