Seydou Legacy Athletique Club (SLAC) on Friday, November 18, picked the first of the three qualification spots available for the final tournament of the 2023 Basketball Africa League Season 3 thanks to a 69-61 win over Bangui Sporting Club at Palais de Sport Treichville, Abidjan. Zeljko Zecevic’s side raced to a 20-14 points in the opening quarter and extended the lead by one more point to head to the locker room with a 7-point advantage (34-27). The third quarter was even as Bangui Sporting Club mounted ceaseless pressure on SLAC (18-18) but the Guinean side kept their seven points advantage under wraps heading into the last quarter (52-45). SLAC opened the fourth quarter with a three-point from Ibrahim Kalil Fofana, and Michael Poole took it to a double-digit lead off a jumper with 3.40 minutes left to play (57-47). Bangui Sporting Club center Kendall Gray cut the gap to sing digits after scoring one of two free-throws with 5.18 minutes to go to join Rolly Fula Nganga in double figures on the score sheet for their side. Effort by Bangui Sporting Club to further reduced the margin was wasted by forward and captain Jimmy Djimbrabaye who missed two shots from the charity line and a three-pointer attempt after Gray picked up an offensive rebound and found the Central African Republic player unguarded, but the shot missed its target. SLAC Poole led his team with 19 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and an efficiency rating of 10. Dane Miller Jr contributed a double-double performance with 16 points, 13 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and recorded the most efficiency rating on SLAC roster with 22 while Ibrahim Kalil Fofana added 16 points, 4 rebounds, 4 steals and 17 efficiency. Bangui center Gray led his team with a double-double of 15 points, 20 rebounds, 3 assists, one steal, one block shot and 30 efficiency rating with Fula adding 13 points and 3 rebounds. Bangui Sporting Club were the better side on the board with 51 to SLAC’s 38. But coach Zecevic’s side proved the better side in assist with (14-12), though SLAC also provided a better record from points in the paint (18-11) and turned the ball over lesser than Bangui Sporting Club did. In the other semifinals, Abidjan Basket Club (ABC) secured the second ticket to the Basketball Africa League season 3 after an 80-63 victory over Stade Malien Bamako at the Palais de Sport, Treichville in Abidjan.
