3 days ago
An insider's look at the 2025 Basketball Africa League semifinalists
APR, Al Ahli, champions Petro and Al Ittihad contest last four at SunBet Arena
Rwanda's APR face Libya's Al Ahli Tripoli in Wednesday's first 2025 Basketball Africa League playoffs semifinal (4pm) at SunBet Arena in Pretoria, then champions Petro de Luanda of Angola are up against Al Itthiad Alexandria of Egypt (7pm).
Except for Petro, the other three teams are making their semifinal debuts. APR lost to Al Ahli twice in the 2025 Nile Conference.
Here are some notable details of each semifinalist:
Al Ahli Tripoli (7-1 win record in 2025 BAL)
Al Ahli Tripoli, the winners of the 2025 Nile Conference in Kigali, Rwanda, are the only team among the four semifinalists that qualified for this BAL season through the Fiba-run Road to BAL qualifiers. The other three teams automatically qualified by winning their domestic leagues.
Al Ahli are the second Libyan team to reach the BAL semifinals since last year's runners-up Al Ahly Libya.
This semifinal is going to be pure cinema 🍿
AlAhli SC 🇱🇾 vs APR 🇷🇼
Watch the game live at 4PM: #BAL5
— Basketball Africa League (@theBAL) June 11, 2025
Tripoli are one of two teams to finish the conference round undefeated. The team has five Libyan national players on its roster, some of whom are potential picks for the 2025 AfroBasket, which will be held in Angola in August. Al Ahli Tripoli head coach Fouad Abou Chacra is also the head coach of the Libyan national team.
The team holds a BAL record for the most points scored in a game, set in a 115—87 win against Nairobi City on May 18 in Kigali, Rwanda.
Al Ittihad Alexandria (8-0)
Except for Zamalek, who won the inaugural BAL season with a perfect 6-0 record, no team in the league's history has reached the last four undefeated. This makes Al Ittihad Alexandria an exception.
Another unique feat of the Egyptian giants is they are the only BAL debutant since the implementation of the conference system in 2022 to have 10 national team players, including three from South Sudan, Fiba's No 1 ranked team in Africa.
Ittihad head coach Omar Soliman is the only former Olympian (Seoul 1988) among the semifinalists' head coaches, though Al Ahli assistant coach Rzig Amine played in the 2012 London Olympics as Tunisia's captain.
The wait is over. Semifinal style activated 🚨
Al Ittihad 🇪🇬 vs Petro de Luanda 🇦🇴
Watch the game live at 7PM: #BAL5
— Basketball Africa League (@theBAL) June 11, 2025
APR (5-3)
Fully named Armée Patriotique Rwandaise Basketball Club, this is the second Rwandan team since the Patriots in 2021 to reach the BAL semifinals.
The Rwandan champions lost twice to Al Ahli Tripoli in the Nile Conference.
APR is the only team with a former NBA player and coach on its coaching staff — Sam Vincent joined the side after leading Johannesburg's unsuccessful qualifiers MBB in the Nile Conference in May.
The APR duo of Nuni Omot and Aliou Diarra were named to the 2023 All-BAL First Team. Omot won the Most Valuable Player award and Diarra the 2023 Defensive Player of the Year award.
Petro de Luanda (4-4)
The Angolan champions have reached the BAL semifinals for a record fifth time. Petro holds the record for the most games played in the BAL, at 38.
Last season, Petro reached the semifinals with an even record (3-3) before finishing 5-3.
