PRETORIA, South Africa - Defending champions Petro de Luanda kept their Basketball Africa League (BAL) back-to-back title hopes alive with a 95-84 quarter-final win over 2022 champions US Monastir.
The Angolan side will face Egypt's Al Ittihad in the semi-finals on Wednesday. The winner will advance to Saturday's final against the winner of the other semi-final between Libya's Al Ahli Tripoli and Rwanda's Armée Patriotique Rwandaise (APR).
Sixth seed Petro got the game off to a strong start, with Kendrick Ray - a new addition to the team ahead of the playoffs at guard - looking more comfortable and playing a key role. By the end of the first quarter, the defending champions led 28-16.
Firas Lahyani and Babacar Sané were instrumental in third seed Monastir's second quarter fightback, but Ray teed Glofate Buiamba up for the last shot of the half and he made his two-point layup to ensure Petro went into the break with a healthy 50-42 lead.
Captain Yanick Moreira and South African home favourite Samkelo Cele took on leading roles in the third quarter, while big shots also came from Cleusio Castro and Childe Dundão.
Petro were defensively solid and significantly improved from field goal shooting after their disastrous 23-68 performance in the seeding game defeat to APR. This time, they finished the game with 32-63. Gardner hit the last three-point jumpshot of the third quarter as Petro took a 79-60 lead into the final 10 minutes.
Mohamed Ghayaza, Patrick Hardy Jr. and Osiris Eldridge attempted to lead a late fightback from Monastir. They were able to bring the deficit down from 22 points to 12 with 2:46 left on the game clock.
However, Petro managed to slow the game down, limit further damage and frustrate Monastir, with the Tunisian side's coach - Vasco Curado - ejected from the game.
"In this tournament, all the teams that qualified are big teams and I feel like if you are down 10 or 12, it's really hard to come back and shots weren't falling in today," Sané said in the mixed zone, summing up where the game got away from Monastir.
They will not have a chance to get their hands on a second BAL championship until at least 2027, as they were dethroned as Tunisian champions by rivals Club Africain and will thus not compete at BAL 2026.
For Petro, the dream of becoming the first team to win back-to-back championships remains alive. Ray's 20 points were vital in a significantly improved offensive performance and although they will head into the semi-finals as underdogs, they showed last year with their recovery from a shaky start that they can never be discounted entirely.