PRETORIA, South Africa -- Al Ittihad clinched the top seed at the Basketball Africa League playoffs with an 85-74 win over Libya's Al Ahli Tripoli on Friday.
South Sudanese duo Majok Deng (19 points, 3 assists, 1 rebound) and Jo Lual-Acuil (16 points, 14 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 blocks) were the leading performers for Al Ittihad. Fabian White Jr. posted a game-high 24 points for Al Ahli but they nevertheless suffered their first defeat of the season as Al Ittihad became the last undefeated team this season.
Both teams had gone 6-0 in their respective conferences -- Al Ittihad in the Kalahari Conference in Morocco, Al Ahli at the Nile Conference in Rwanda.
Boosted by the arrival of 2024 BAL MVP Lual-Acuil -- who missed the Kalahari Conference while finishing his Turkish Basketbol Süper Ligi season -- Al Ittihad started strongest and took a 24-14 lead into the first break.
Jean-Jacques Boissy began to hit his stride for Al Ahli in the second quarter, supported by White Jr. and Naseim Badrush, but Al Ittihad picked up the pace and the Egyptian side went into halftime with a 48-39 advantage.
White took on the prime scoring role for Al Ahli in the third quarter, while Al Ittihad spread their points across the roster and held a 64-55 lead heading into the final quarter.
Al Ahli reduced the margin to five points -- 75-70 -- with five minutes to play, when Deng Deng hit a clutch three-point jump shot to give Al Ittihad some breathing space again.
Al Ittihad maintained their advantage to restore momentum after their Egyptian Super League Finals loss to Al Ahly of Cairo, which means they will not be in next year's continental tournament.
Al Ittihad will face No. 8 seed FUS Rabat in the quarterfinals, while No. 8 seed Kriol Star are next up for Al Ahli.
"I think if you're going on a run like this -- 6-0 -- I'm not going to say this is a great loss, but it's a great time to lose right now compared to the quarterfinal," Senegalese guard Boissy said after the game.
"We didn't make a lot of shots and they out-rebounded us. That was our main point against teams; we just go and make shots and it didn't happen."
Al Ahli head coach Fouad Abou Chacra acknowledged that Al Ittihad had deserved to win.
"Usually in Kigali, our team showed better character and great determination," he said.
"Today, everybody on the floor -- we didn't see stability. Although we tried to come back three or four times, and dropped the score to five or six points, every time we made a mistake."