Malian powerhouse Stade Malien became the first team to reach the semifinals of the 2023 Basketball Africa League up its first Basketball Africa League(BAL) after Saturday’s 78-69 quarter final victory over South Africa’s Cape Town Tigers at BK Arena.

Both teams hit the court for the opening last eight game at around 4:00 pm, fighting for supremacy before a sold out BK Arena.

The Malians had arguably an easy start to the campaign, leading each of the four quarters of the game to finish victorious.

The Sahara Conference champions started off with a 16 point lead at half time break, despite going slow in the first quarter of the second half.

With four minutes left in the game, the lead was cut to two, sparking tensions between the pair.

It was still early for Stade Malien's crowned MVP, Aliou Diarra to power his side to an eight point lead.

The Small Forward went home with 18 points equalling to teammate John Wilkins.

South Africa's side scored 17 points from turnovers, while opponent Stade Malien bagged 21 points from turnovers.