DAKAR, Senegal -- Sahara Conference hosts ASC Ville de Dakar (ASCVD) got their Basketball Africa League (BAL) campaign up and running with a 70-67 win over 2022 champions US Monastir.
Despite superb performances from veterans Firas Lahyani (13 pts, 11 reb, 3 asst) and Radhouane Slimane (15 pts, 6 reb, 3 asst), Monastir were unable to stage a late comeback against a team which shared responsibilities well.
Bara Ndiaye's 15 points, Abdoulaye Harouna's 7 assists and Ater Majok's 9 rebounds against his former team were key in ASCVD's win.
Earlier on Saturday, Angola's Petro de Luanda, the defending champions, had tipped off the conference with a 103-74 drubbing of Cape Verde's Kriol Star.
Monastir started well with five quickfire points from Firas Lahyani, but the home team and home crowd were not to be deterred. ASCVD edged ahead and then Abdoulaye Harouna and Will Perry landed back-to-back threes, drawing huge cheers as they put the hosts 12-5 up.
The hosts had momentum and it was left to 44-year-old Radhouane Slimane to pull Monastir out of the fire. He scored nine of their next 13 points to reduce the deficit to 20-18 by the end of the first quarter.
Andrew Tarekeyi Edogi gave Monastir the lead early in the second quarter but ASCVD fought back, with Bara Ndiaye's 13 first-half points sending the Tunisian side into the break 42-34 up.
However, ASCVD were sloppy on the ball in the third quarter, allowing Monastir to regain the lead midway through. ASCVD rallied back after a timeout and Thierno Niang levelled again at 50-50 and the teams went into the final quarter all square.
The hosts rallied late in the final quarter with Samba Dali Fall and Will Perry in fine shooting form. A two and a three from Perry gave ASCVD some room for error but Monastir fought back and Slimane landed a three to cut the lead to 68-67 with 12.9 seconds left.
Two free throws from Harouna extended the lead to three with 4.2 seconds on the clock, effectively handing Monastir one last chance to send the game to overtime. Mourad El Mabrouk went for the three-point shot and missed, handing the hosts a winning start.
Monastir coach Vasco Curado acknowledged that his side had made mistakes in several areas of the game, including rebounds, but specifically cited conceding 14 free throws while only winning six as a major reason for the defeat.
"In a tight game, whoever goes to the free throw line more usually wins the game and today, Dakar was lucky [to have more opportunities from there]," said Curado in the post-match press conference.
AS Douanes and DUC Dakar have represented Senegal in previous BAL tournaments, with Douanes making the 2023 final. However, this was ASCVD's debut game in the tournament. They had invested heavily in foreign players and the jubilant scenes in the stands suggest it was not in vain.