# 2024 BAL Sahara Conference

The 2024 BAL Sahara Conference was the 3rd season of the Sahara Conference, one of the three conferences of the 2024 season of the Basketball Africa League (BAL). The composition of the conference and the schedule were announced on 15 February 2024. The conference games began on 4 May and ended on 12 May 2024.

## Summary

Despite being considered the weakest team, the Rivers Hoopers came out with three straight wins. The Hoopers were the first team to clinch a playoffs spot on the fifth gameday. US Monastir, the 2022 BAL champions, lost their first three games. They became the first former BAL champions to lose four games in a row, dating back to the previous season. The game between APR and Rivers Hoopers on May 11 was the first double-overtime game in BAL history. On May 9, Mike Fofana scored a buzzer-beater game winner to give AS Douanes the win over Rivers Hoopers.
Coming into the final game day on May 12, the last two games decided the last two playoffs spots. On the last gameday, US Monastir qualified after finishing with a 3–3 record. AS Douanes and APR battled for the last playoffs spot, with the winner advancing, and AS Douanes eventually secured its spot.

## Standings

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | L | GF | GA | GD | PCT | Qualification |
| 1 | Rivers Hoopers | 6 | 4 | 2 | 441 | 413 | +28 | .667 | Advance to playoffs |
| 2 | AS Douanes | 6 | 3 | 3 | 409 | 385 | +24 | .500 | Advance to playoffs |
| 3 | US Monastir | 6 | 3 | 3 | 437 | 450 | −13 | .500 | Advance to playoffs |
| 4 | APR | 6 | 2 | 4 | 432 | 471 | −39 | .333 | |
* 1 2 Head-to-head: AS Douanes 1–1 US Monastir, AS Douanes won on aggregrate point difference (+1).

## Games

* May 4, 2024 2:30 PM
* Livestats
| US Monastir | 84–89 (OT) | APR |
| Scoring by quarter: 20–20, 20–19, 15–13, 23–26, Overtime: 6–11 |||
| Pts: Crawford 21 Rebs: Lahyani, Majok 9 Asts: Crawford 7 | | Pts: Filer, Noel 24 Rebs: Abdullah 9 Asts: Filer 4 |
* Dakar Arena, Dakar Attendance: 850 Referees: Kenny Jones, Yann Vezo Davidson, Kingsley Ojeaburu
* May 4, 2024 5:30 PM
* Livestats
| AS Douanes | 68–77 | Rivers Hoopers |
| Scoring by quarter: 23–18, 16–19, 9–19, 20–21 |||
| Pts: Akec 19 Rebs: Obekpa 14 Asts: Boissy 4 | | Pts: Eke 31 Rebs: Eke 12 Asts: Amayo 8 |
* Dakar Arena, Dakar Attendance: 8,543 Referees: Tyler Mirkovich, Aboolo Amr, Hassan Kamate
* May 5, 2024 2:30 PM
* Livestats
| APR | 82–86 | Rivers Hoopers |
| Scoring by quarter: 18–19, 22–21, 22–23, 20–23 |||
| Pts: Noel 32 Rebs: Noel 7 Asts: Filer, Robeyns 4 | | Pts: Perry 31 Rebs: Eke, Ike 8 Asts: Amayo 7 |
* Dakar Arena, Dakar Attendance: 734 Referees: Kaitlynn Versoza, Kalume Tonton Banza, Adlen Larouci
* May 5, 2024 5:30 PM
* Livestats
| AS Douanes | 76–59 | US Monastir |
| Scoring by quarter: 12–17, 20–14, 14–15, 30–15 |||
| Pts: Harouna 35 Rebs: Akec 9 Asts: Boissy 8 | | Pts: Williams 16 Rebs: Majok 13 Asts: Crawford 5 |
* Dakar Arena, Dakar Attendance: 4,578 Referees: Cameron Gelinas, Walelign Fikadu Gebeto, Natascha Onono
* May 7, 2024 4:00 PM
* Livestats
| US Monastir | 63–84 | Rivers Hoopers |
| Scoring by quarter: 13–24, 16–25, 22–18, 12–17 |||
| Pts: Doucouré 21 Rebs: Crawford 7 Asts: Crawford 14 | | Pts: Amayo 30 Rebs: Eke 12 Asts: Amayo, Perry 9 |
* Dakar Arena, Dakar Attendance: 973 Referees: Tyler Mirkovich, Kalume Tonton Banza, Hassan Kamate
* May 7, 2024 7:00 PM
* Livestats
| APR | 66–61 | AS Douanes |
| Scoring by quarter: 11–17, 16–9, 19–16, 20–19 |||
| Pts: Noel 24 Rebs: Noel 8 Asts: Filer, Robeyns 3 | | Pts: Boissy 14 Rebs: Boissy, Fofana 6 Asts: Boissy 11 |
* Dakar Arena, Dakar Attendance: 4,478 Referees: Kenny Jones, Aboolo Amr, Adlen Larouci
* May 9, 2024 4:00 PM
* Livestats
| APR | 70–83 | US Monastir |
| Scoring by quarter: 22–19, 15–17, 17–14, 16–33 |||
| Pts: Hunt 17 Rebs: Filer 11 Asts: Noel 5 | | Pts: Crawford 31 Rebs: Majok 10 Asts: Crawford 5 |
* Dakar Arena, Dakar Attendance: 2,330 Referees: Cameron Gelinas, Kingsley Ojeaburu, Kalume Tonton Banza
* May 9, 2024 7:00 PM
* Livestats
| Rivers Hoopers | 54–56 | AS Douanes |
| Scoring by quarter: 5–14, 21–19, 15–7, 13–16 |||
| Pts: Perry 17 Rebs: Olisemeka 18 Asts: Perry 5 | | Pts: Akec 17 Rebs: Thomas 9 Asts: Boissy 4 |
* Dakar Arena, Dakar Attendance: 6,876 Referees: Cameron Gelinas, Yann Vezo Davidson, Natascha Onono
* May 11, 2024 2:30 PM
* Livestats
| Rivers Hoopers | 78–71 (2OT) | APR |
| Scoring by quarter: 16–19, 15–11, 10–20, 17–8, Overtime: 17–8, 20–3 |||
| Pts: Eke 18 Rebs: Eke 20 Asts: Perry 6 | | Pts: Nshobozwabyosenumukiza 16 Rebs: Hunt 14 Asts: Hunt 7 |
* Dakar Arena, Dakar Attendance: 750 Referees: Cameron Gelinas, Aboolo Amr, Kalume Tonton Banza
* May 11, 2024 5:30 PM
* Livestats
| US Monastir | 75–69 | AS Douanes |
| Scoring by quarter: 17–15, 31–20, 10–15, 17–19 |||
| Pts: Crawford 16 Rebs: Lahyani 10 Asts: Crawford 6 | | Pts: Harouna 22 Rebs: Akec 7 Asts: Fofana 2 |
* Dakar Arena, Dakar Attendance: 8,208 Referees: Tyler Mirkovich, Kingsley Ojeaburu, Natascha Onono
* May 12, 2024 2:30 PM
* Livestats
| Rivers Hoopers | 62–73 | US Monastir |
| Scoring by quarter: 13–19, 20–19, 9–18, 20–17 |||
| Pts: Eke 13 Rebs: Olisemeka 10 Asts: Amayo 7 | | Pts: Crawford 21 Rebs: Majok 16 Asts: Crawford 9 |
* Dakar Arena, Dakar Attendance: 2,604 Referees: Kenny Jones, Kalume Tonton Banza, Walelign Fikadu Gebeto
* May 12, 2024 5:30 PM
* Livestats
| AS Douanes | 79–54 | APR |
| Scoring by quarter: 23–18, 21–10, 19–18, 16–8 |||
| Pts: Fofana 27 Rebs: Akec 9 Asts: Harouna 8 | | Pts: Mpoyo 22 Rebs: Mpoyo 7 Asts: Robeyns 4 |
* Dakar Arena, Dakar Attendance: 8,632 Referees: Kaitlynn Versoza, Yann Vezo Davidson, Hassan Kamate

## Player statistics

| Category | Player | Team(s) | Statistic |
| Points per game | Obadiah Noel | APR | 19.4 |
| Rebounds per game | Devine Eke | Rivers Hoopers | 11.7 |
| Assists per game | Chris Crawford | Rivers Hoopers | 8.5 |
| Steals per game | Abdoulaye Harouna | AS Douanes | 3.8 |
| Blocks per game | Ater Majok | US Monastir | 1.5 |