Sunday REG 91-87 AS Sale REG basketball club beat Moroccos AS Sale 91-87 in their opening game of the second season of the Basketball Africa League (BAL) on Sunday, March 6. REG started the game on a low note, trailing the Moroccans 25-27 by the end of the first quarter. By halftime, REG was still trailing by two points (46-48), a slight margin that was keeping their hope of winning the game very much alive. With great team work coupled with incredible individual performances from Wilson Nshobozwabyosenumukiza, Adonis Filer and Cleveland Joseph Thomas, REG kept piling pressure on the Moroccans and won the third quarter 26-21. Nshobozwabyosenumukiza and Filer were often brave to charge forward with the ball to create some good chances for the team, in addition to shooting some important three pointers that assisted their team to victory. New signings Thomas Junior and Anthony Rashad Walker were also impactful, with the former grabbing 26 points while the latter added 21 in addition to Filers 14. By the end of the last quarter, REG had 91 points while AS Sale had 87. REG will take on Seydou Legacy Athletique on March 9, and then play Dakar Universite Club on March 11. On March 14, they will play against Tunisian Powerhouse US-Monastir. Their last game will be against Ferroviário da Beira (Mozambique) on March 15. Altogether, 12 teams from different African countries will participate in the tournament. They are divided into two conferences – the Sahara Conference and the Nile Conference. Teams in each conference will play against each other, and the top 4 will proceed to the next round of playoffs which will be on a knockout basis (quarterfinals, semifinals and then finals). The Sahara Conference’s games will take place at the Dakar Arena in Senegal from March 5-15, while the Nile Conference group phase will take place at Hassan Mostafa Indoor Sports Complex in Cairo from April 9-19.
