Angola’s Petro de Luanda defeat Al Ahly Ly to win 2024 BAL Championship
NBA legends including Luol Deng and Joakim Noah watched on as Petro de Luanda became the first sub-Saharan African team to win the BAL Finals in Kigali.
Basketball
Petro de Luanda defeated Libya’s Al Ahly Ly 107-94 to win the 2024 Basketball Africa League (BAL) Championship at the BK Arena in Kigali on Saturday 1 June.
The Angolan outfit overhauled a 42-50 half-time deficit with a significant third-quarter effort to become the first team from sub-Sahara Africa to win the title.
Nicholas Faust led scoring for the newly minted men's continental champions with 24 points while Markeith Cummings added 20.
2024 BAL MVP Jo-Lual Acuil Jr. of South Sudan finished with 15 points, but Al Ahly Ly’s main man, ultimately, couldn’t stem the tide against the rampant Angolans.
Petro is now the fourth winner in four years of the BAL Championship.
Among those enjoying the action were former NBA stars Ian Mahinmi, Joakim Noah, Festus Ezeli, Pops Mensah-Bonsu, and the current president of the South Sudan Basketball Federation, Luol Deng.
Deng’s stop in Kigali for the BAL Finals comes ahead of a big summer for the two-time NBA All-Star and his native South Sudan.
Last year, under his watch, the African nation made history as it secured a quota for the Olympic Games Paris 2024, just six years after its first official FIBA game.
But before the showdown in Paris can commence, the Bright Stars are set to detour via London, once the home of Deng, to compete in a showcase game against the United States on Saturday 20 July.
There they will face a slate of current NBA superstars including LeBron James, Steph Curry, and Kevin Durant.