RABAT, Morocco -- Egypt's Al Ittihad secured top spot in the Basketball Africa League (BAL) Kalahari Conference with a comfortable 94-77 win over Nigeria's Rivers Hoopers at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Sporting Complex on Saturday.
Majok Deng led the scoring with 18 points for Ittihad, while Madut Akec scored 17 for Rivers Hoopers.
Both teams had already secured their places in June's playoffs in Pretoria ahead of tip-off. All that was left to compete for was top spot in the conference and a favourable seeding position.
In the previous encounter between these teams, Ittihad dominated in a 100-80 win. The Egyptian champions started strongest again, but the KingsMen were determined not to lose touch and managed to claw their way back. At the end of the first quarter, the scores were locked at 19-19.
Ittihad came out firing in the second quarter, with shots landing from all over the floor. Majok Deng in particular was in superb form and had arguably the evening's most impressive dunk to stretch the score to 39-25 with around four minutes left. By the end of the quarter, Ittihad had stretched the lead further to 49-29.
Rivers Hoopers fought hard in the third quarter. Ike David Ugonna even had an alley-oop dunk off Kelvin Amayo's pass which could compete with Majok Deng's in the previous quarter, while Akec kept the scoreboard ticking with support from Amayo and Raphiael Putney.
However, Ittihad had a response for everything thrown at them and limited the damage from Rivers Hoopers' runs. Ahead of the last quarter, Ittihad led 75-56.
Omar Soliman's men started the fourth quarter with back-to-back threes from Abdelhady Elraei Metwaly and Abdelrazzak Mohamed Aboushousha. From there, Ogoh Odaudu's men had little chance of coming back.
After the Sahara Conference (April 26 - May 4 in Dakar) and Nile Conference (May 17-25 in Kigali) are complete, a round of seeding games will take place in Pretoria to determine the final seeding order for the knockout games.
Ittihad have put themselves in pole position for a smooth playoff run, while Rivers Hoopers were given a harsh reminder that for all their consistency and grit, they are still not quite a championship team.
"We need to be better if we are going to compete in South Africa. It's quite frustrating... Al Ittihad were fantastic tonight, just as they were in the first game against us. They moved the ball really well... I see the amount of work that we have to put in," Odaudu said in the post-match press conference, although he stressed that Rivers Hoopers still have time.
The KingsMen will finish off their Kalahari Conference fixtures against Stade Malien on Sunday, while Al Ittihad will face FUS Rabat in the hope of securing a perfect six wins from six.