PRETORIA, South Africa -- Top seed Al Ittihad fought off a valiant FUS Rabat 86-83 in overtime in the Basketball Africa League (BAL) quarter-finals on Sunday.
Egypt's Ittihad were looking to extend their unbeaten run at this year's tournament to eight games. After beating Al Ahli Tripoli in the match for the top seed, they were the last unbeaten team standing.
Despite coming off the back of a disappointing Kalahari Conference campaign on home soil and an embarrassing seeding game to Kriol Star, FUS were back to their best in the first quarter.
The Moroccan side showed some of the same quality that had seen them win last year's Kalahari Conference in Pretoria. Nevertheless, Ittihad took a 16-14 lead by the end of the quarter.
FUS started the second quarter strongest and took a 26-21 lead, but Ittihad's depth came in handy and 2024 MVP Jo Lual-Acuil played an instrumental role as they regained momentum and took a 41-34 lead into half-time.
The Moroccan side refused to give up and edged the third quarter. John Jordan and Ayoub Nouhi made vital shots as FUS cut Ittihad's lead by one point to 56-50.
A feisty start to the fourth quarter saw FUS edge 64-63 in front before Anas Mahmoud sank a three-pointer to reclaim the lead for Ittihad.
Just over two minutes later, Omar Abada landed a three-point jump shot of his own to put Rabat ahead again 69-68. Jordan made a layup to extend the lead to three points and 40-year-old Soufiane Kourdou rolled back the years with a vital block on Ibrahim Abdelrahman Mohamed.
Mohamed made two free throws shortly afterwards and then with 35.9 seconds to go, Majok Deng made a jumpshot on the turn to give Ittihad a 72-71 lead. Two free throws from Kyle Vinales stretched the Egyptian side's advantage to three points. It appeared likely that FUS had only one last chance to send the game to overtime.
Jordan weaved his way through a sea of bodies and worked the ball to Nisre Zouzoua, who stepped back from the corner and launched one last hail-mary, which sailed into the basket.
Initially at 0.9 seconds, the game clock was adjusted to leave Ittihad with two seconds left after a review. Deng Deng's last attempt to snatch the win in the quarter with an improbable shot was off the mark and the game went to overtime.
Kourdou landed two free throws to draw first blood in overtime, but Vinales' three put Ittihad back ahead. FUS raced up the other end, with Zouzoua making a two-point jumpshot. FUS had the lead once again.
Shots were not falling for Ittihad, but although they had the worse shooting night of the two teams, they did just enough to stay in contention. The teams headed into the final minute of overtime level at 80-80.
Abada's free throw gave FUS the lead, but Lual-Acuil drove into the paint at the other end and reached for the rim, with his layup restoring the Egyptian side's advantage.
Majok Deng then won a foul off Badr Eddine Azouga and kept his cool from the free throw line for two points even with some in the crowd attempting to put him off - perhaps enchanted by the potential underdog story they were witnessing.
With 10.1 seconds to go, it was déjà vu - FUS once again needed to reverse a three point deficit to tie the game.
Kourdou missed two vital free throws, but FUS made it back to the free throw line with Jordan sinking both of his. Ittihad led by one point with 3.3 seconds left.
Vinales won a foul off Abdelhakim Zouita and hit both of his free throws with expert precision. It was left to Zouzoua to attempt to launch yet another hail mary - this time from inside his own half. This time, he was unable to pull off the improbable, and FUS' BAL dream was shattered while Ittihad lived to fight another day.
They will face the winners of Monday's clash between US Monastir and Petro de Luanda in the semi-finals, which will take place on Wednesday.
Although they will likely need a better shooting performance than the 29-78 they produced on this occasion, they proved that they can deliver at crunch-time even when things do not go according to plan, as they usually do.
Lual-Acuil proved decisive with his 16 points and 11 rebounds, while Jordan's 23 points were unable to salvage the game even though he was the top scorer of the game.
Although he lamented his team's complacency, which he attributed to overconfidence from previous big wins over FUS, Mahmoud said that experience and defensive prowess helped Ittihad dig themselves out of a hole.
"At the very end, we know where to go," he said. "We went to Jo down the stretch, we went to Kyle, we went to Majok - guys who have been here before - who have played in the big moments before.
"They were able to knock down the free throws and make those plays at the very end of the game, but I think what really helped us win the game at the end was getting defensive stops.
"In the fourth quarter... [FUS] were getting those offensive rebounds and we were sluggish defensively, but towards the end of the game, you've got to lock down - and I think we did that."