The race for the 2024 BAL title continues on Friday, May 24 with two mouthwatering playoff matchups at the state-of-the-art BK Arena in Kigali, Rwanda. The playoffs will tip-off with none other than the Libyan champions Al Ahly Ly taking on South Africa’s Cape Town Tigers at 5:00 pm (local time). Three hours later, BAL defending champions Al Ahly SC will go up against Morocco’s FUS de Rabat. All 2024 BAL Playoffs games will broadcast live KC2 TV and The BAL YouTube channel. Unlike, Al Ahly Ly, who faced ups and downs in the Nile Conference where they finished 3-3, Cape Town Tigers finished 1-3 in the Kalahari Conference. The Tigers qualified as one of the two best third-placed teams from across the three conferences while Al Ahly Ly finished second behind Al Ahly SC in the Nile Conference. This is the first clash between the Tigers and Al Ahly Ly, and one of the many reasons to watch this game is the presence of two of Africa’s top players: Samkelo Cele, who was named to the 2023 All-BAL Defensive team and has become the Tigers’ go-to man, and Jo-Lual Acuil Jr. who set a BAL record for most points scored in a game when he finished with 42 points in a 110-78 win over City Oilers last month. The opening day of the 2024 BAL Playoffs won’t finish before reigning champions Al Ahly try to extend their overall BAL record to 14-2, when they take on a star-studded FUS de Rabat roster -this match-up may be the Egyptian champions’ toughest test of the season. This encounter is predicted by many to be the 2024 BAL Final, because of the potential and depth of both teams. Both teams are coached by two men with a winning track record in African basketball. Al Ahly SC’s Agustin Bosch is the only coach with two BAL titles (2021 and 2023) under his belt while FUS de Rabat’s Said El Bouzidi has led AS Salé to the 2017 FIBA Africa Champions Cup. Ahead of the opening day of the 2024 BAL Playoffs, Al Ahly SC sit at the top of the rankings while FUS Rabat are in the second place. Can these two teams live up to expectations?
