2022 BAL qualification

2022 BAL qualification
(Road to BAL 2022)
2022 BAL qualification; (Road to BAL 2022)
Association	FIBA Africa
League	Road to BAL
Sport	Basketball
Duration	19 October – 16 December 2021
Number of games	40
Number of teams	18
West Division
Division champions	FAP
Top scorer	Rolly Fula Nganga (Espoir)
East Division
Division champions	Ferroviário da Beira
Top scorer	Ismael Nurmamade (Ferroviário)
Seasons
	← 2021 2023 →

The qualification tournaments for the 2022 BAL season, also known as the Road to BAL 2022, were the qualification rounds for the second season of the Basketball Africa League (BAL). The tournaments began on 19 October 2021 and ended 16 December 2021. Similar to the first season, the competition consisted out of two stages: the first round and the elite 16.^[1] Six teams advanced to the group phase of the BAL.

Teams

On 13 October 2021, FIBA announced the 26 teams from 26 countries which participate in the qualification round.^[1]

1st, 2nd, etc.: ranking in national leagues
CW: Cup winner

First round
West Division		East Division
ASPAC (1st)	SOA (1st)	New Star (1st)	City Oilers (1st)
Espoir Fukash (1st)^{[Note COD]}	SLAC (1st)	Kurasini Heat (1st)	Cobra Sport (1st)
AS Police (1st)	Tondema (1st)	Roche-Bois Warriors (1st)	Matero Magic (1st)
FAP (1st)	Nigelec	Brave Hearts (1st)	Cape Town Tigers (1st)
		Ulinzi Warriors (1st)	Ferroviário da Beira (1st)

Notes

^
DR Congo (COD): In FIBA's team list of 13 October 2020 national champions ASB Mazembe was announced to be the Congolese representative. However, the Fédération de basketball du Congo (FEBACO) eventually decided to enter 2021 champions Espoir Fukash.^[2]
^
Zimbabwe (ZIM): The representative team from Zimbabwe, Mercenaries pulled out before its games in Group F started.^[3]

Withdrawing teams

Six teams were drawn in a group for the first round, but withdrew prior to the start of the games.

Group A	Group B	Group C	Group D	Group E	Group F
WA Boufarik Prédio	AOA		ASCUT Hawassa City		Mercenaries^{[Note ZIM]}

First round

The first two teams of each group advance to the elite 16 and two wild cards were given to teams from each division.

West Division

Group A

Initially, four teams were drawn in Group A, which was played in Conakry, Guinea. However, Prédio and WA Boufarik failed to travel to Conakry.^[4]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	AS Police	2	1	1	173	167	+6	3	Advance to Elite 16
2	SLAC (H)	2	1	1	167	173	−6	3	Advance to Elite 16
3	Prédio (D)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Withdrew
4	WA Boufarik (D)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Withdrew

Source: FIBA
(D) Disqualified; (H) Hosts


29 October 2021
SLAC	95–93	AS Police
31 October 2021
AS Police	80–72	SLAC

Group B

Venue: Conakry, Guinea

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	SOA	2	2	0	124	91	+33	4	Advance to Elite 16
2	Nigelec	2	1	1	116	99	+17	3
3	ASPAC (W)	2	0	2	75	125	−50	2
4	AOA (D)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Withdrew

Source: FIBA
(D) Disqualified; (W) Advanced with wild card


29 October 2021
SOA	64–51	Nigelec
30 October 2021
ASPAC	40–60	SOA
31 October 2021
Nigelec	65–35	ASPAC

Group C

Group C was hosted in Yaoundé, Cameroon. FAP, who play in the 2021 regular season, returned while Tondema and Espoir Fukash made their debuts in the competition. Malabo Kings forfeited the last day.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	FAP (H)	2	2	0	166	122	+44	4	Advance to Elite 16
2	Espoir Fukash	2	1	1	167	133	+34	3	Advance to Elite 16
3	Tondema	2	0	2	106	184	−78	2
4	Malabo Kings (D)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Forfeited

Source: FIBA
(D) Disqualified; (H) Hosts


29 October 2021
FAP	82–57	Tondema
30 October 2021
Tondema	49–102	Espoir Fukash
31 October 2021
FAP	84–65	Espoir Fukash

East Division

Because Hawassa City and ASCUT of Group D withdrew, the groups were divided again. New Star was moved to Group D.

Group D

Venue: Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	New Star	2	2	0	147	120	+27	4	Advance to Elite 16
2	Ulinzi Warriors	2	1	1	127	127	0	3
3	Cobra Sport (W)	2	0	2	93	120	−27	2
4	Hawassa City (D)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Withdrew
5	ASCUT (D)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Withdrew

Source: FIBA
(D) Disqualified; (W) Advanced with wild card


29 October 2021
New Star	67–46	Cobra Sport
30 October 2021
Ulinzi Warriors	72–80	New Star
31 October 2021
Cobra Sport	47–53	Ulinzi Warriors

Group E

All times are GMT+3.

Venue: Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	City Oilers	2	2	0	143	92	+51	4	Advance to Elite 16
2	Kurasini Heat (H)	2	1	1	103	97	+6	3	Advance to Elite 16
3	Brave Hearts	2	0	2	70	127	−57	2

Updated to match(es) played on 30 October 2021. Source: FIBA
(H) Hosts

29 October 2021
20:00

Box score

Brave Hearts	27–54	Kurasini Heat
Scoring by quarter: 7-13, 8-10, 4-14, 8-17
Pts: Chizah 9 Rebs: Kadiwa 6 Asts: Limbe, Vernon 2		Pts: Lugora 16 Rebs: Basco 9 Asts: Musongole 5

Benjamin Mkapa Indoor Court, Dar es Salaam
Referees: Cherubin Leslie (MRI), Antonio Bernardo (ANG), Monicca Nassuuna (UGA)

29 October 2021
20:00

Box score

City Oilers	73–43	Brave Hearts
Scoring by quarter: 19-10, 16-14, 19-7, 19-12
Pts: Balwigaire Jr. 14 Rebs: Okello 12 Asts: Three players 4		Pts: Mwambene 17 Rebs: Kadiwa, Mwambene 8 Asts: Nhira 3

Benjamin Mkapa Indoor Court, Dar es Salaam
Referees: Jean Sauveur Ruhamiriza (RWA), Shabani Mohamed Shabani (TUN), Erick Otieno (KEN)

29 October 2021
20:00

Box score

Kurasini Heat	49–70	City Oilers
Scoring by quarter: 7-11, 17-19, 11-19, 14-21

Benjamin Mkapa Indoor Court, Dar es Salaam
Referees: Walelign Gebeto (ETH), Tonton Banza Kalume (DRC), Erick Otieno (KEN)

Group F

The venue of Group F was the Inzibio Hall in Soweto, Johannesburg, South Africa. Five teams were placed in this group, however, Mercenaries pulled out before the start.^[3] The Cape Town Tigers and Roche-Bois Warriors made their debut in the international level.^[5] The Group featured two former NBA players in Ben Uzoh and Billy Preston, who both played with Cape Town.^[6]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Cape Town Tigers (H)	3	3	0	285	211	+74	6	Advance to Elite 16
2	Ferroviário da Beira	3	2	1	298	173	+125	5
3	Matero Magic (W)	3	1	2	223	207	+16	4
4	Roche-Bois Warriors	3	0	3	128	343	−215	3
5	Mercenaries (D)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Withdrew

Source: FIBA
(D) Disqualified; (H) Hosts; (W) Advanced with wild card


21 October 2021
Cape Town Tigers	81–51	Matero Magic
Ferroviário da Beira	116–49	Roche-Bois Warriors
22 October 2021
Roche-Bois Warriors	36–132	Ferroviário da Beira
Matero Magic	77–83	Cape Town Tigers
23 October 2021
Matero Magic	95–43	Roche-Bois Warriors
Cape Town Tigers	86–85	Ferroviário da Beira

Elite 16

In the elite 16, two groups of eight teams were created consisting of the top two teams and wild cards of the first round. AS Salé, as the national champions of Morocco, directly enters this stage. Competition began on 2 December 2021 (Division East) in Johannesburg and 11 December 2021 (Division West) in Yaounde. The top three teams from each group advance to the 2022 BAL season.^[7]

On 20 November 2021, the draw was held in Abidjan.^[8] On 11 December, FIBA announced ASPAC had withdrawn and AS Salé was not available.^[9]

Division West

Group G1

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	FAP	2	2	0	157	130	+27	4	Advance to semi-finals
2	AS Police	2	1	1	151	144	+7	3	Advance to semi-finals
3	SOA	2	0	2	134	168	−34	2
4	ASPAC (D)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Withdrew

Source: FIBA
(D) Disqualified


11 December 2021
SOA	64–83	FAP
12 December 2021
AS Police	85–70	SOA
13 December 2021
FAP	74–66	AS Police

Group G2

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	SLAC	2	1	1	171	158	+13	3^[a]	Advance to semi-finals
2	Espoir Fukash	2	1	1	195	193	+2	3^[a]	Advance to semi-finals
3	Nigelec	2	1	1	158	173	−15	3^[a]
4	AS Salé (D)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Withdrew

Source: FIBA
(D) Disqualified
Notes:

^ ^a ^b ^c Ranking based on point difference: 1) SLAC +13; 2) Espoir Fukash +2; 3) Nigelec –15.


11 December 2021
Nigelec	104–91	Espoir Fukash
12 December 2021
Espoir Fukash	104–89	SLAC
13 December 2021
SLAC	82–54	Nigelec

Final stage

Semi-finals		Final

15 December

FAP	70
		16 December
Espoir Fukash	56
		FAP	81
15 December
		SLAC	34
SLAC (OT)	81

AS Police	78
		Third place game

		16 December

		Espoir Fukash (OT)	93

		AS Police	87

Semi-finals

15 December 2021
15:00

Report

SLAC	81–78 (OT)	AS Police
Scoring by quarter: 13–15, 25–11, 18–20, 14–24, Overtime: 11–8
Pts: Miller Jr. 26 Rebs: Miller Jr. 10 Asts: Miller Jr. 6		Pts: Konaté 24 Rebs: Diarouma 17 Asts: Kanouté 4

Yaoundé Multipurpose Sports Complex, Yaoundé

15 December 2021
18:00

Report

FAP	70–56	Espoir Fukash
Scoring by quarter: 19–12, 21–11, 11–19, 19–14
Pts: Lyle 17 Rebs: Ngaransou 10 Asts: Essome, Liale 3		Pts: Kapongo Kabuya 14 Rebs: Fula Nganga 9 Asts: Mwana Mwamba 3

Yaoundé Multipurpose Sports Complex, Yaoundé

Third place game

16 December 2021
15:00

Report

Espoir Fukash	93–87 (OT)	AS Police
Scoring by quarter: 20–22, 24–17, 14–22, 20–17, Overtime: 15–9
Pts: Fula Nganga 29 Rebs: Mutomb Mbav 16 Asts: Mwana Mwamba 8		Pts: Kanouté 20 Rebs: Diarouma 21 Asts: Banza Kasongo 5

Yaoundé Multipurpose Sports Complex, Yaoundé

Final

16 December 2021
18:00

Report

FAP	81–34	SLAC
Scoring by quarter: 21–8, 22–5, 21–15, 17–6
Pts: Almeida 19 Rebs: Ngaransou 12 Asts: Liale 4		Pts: Poole 9 Rebs: Miller Jr. 11 Asts: Fofana 2

Yaoundé Multipurpose Sports Complex, Yaoundé

Division East

The Division East games were played from 6 December until 11 December at the Wembley Stadium in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Group H1

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	New Star	2	2	0	161	141	+20	4	Advance to semi-finals
2	Cape Town Tigers	2	1	1	150	146	+4	3	Advance to semi-finals
3	Matero Magic	2	0	2	133	157	−24	2
4	Kurasini Heat (D)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Withdrew

Source: FIBA
(D) Disqualified


6 December 2021
New Star	83–71	Cape Town Tigers
7 December 2021
Matero Magic	70–78	New Star
8 December 2021
Cape Town Tigers	79–63	Matero Magic

Group H2

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Ferroviário da Beira	2	2	0	157	105	+52	4	Advance to semi-finals
2	Cobra Sport	2	1	1	123	143	−20	3	Advance to semi-finals
3	Ulinzi Warriors	2	0	2	126	158	−32	2
4	City Oilers (D)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Withdrew^[a]

Source: FIBA
(D) Disqualified


6 December 2021
Ferroviário da Beira	76–46	Cobra Sport
7 December 2021
Cobra Sport	77–67	Ulinzi Warriors
8 December 2021
Ferroviário da Beira	81–59	Ulinzi Warriors

Final stage

Semi-finals		Final

10 December

New Star	76
		11 December
Cobra Sport	78
		Cobra Sport	65
10 December
		Ferroviário da Beira	91
Ferroviário da Beira	77

Cape Town Tigers	75
		Third place game

		11 December

		New Star	0

		Cape Town Tigers	20

Semi-finals

10 December 2021
15:30

Report

New Star	76–78	Cobra Sport
Scoring by quarter: 18-13, 19–28, 13–26, 26–11
Pts: Calvo Masa 33 Rebs: Ndikumana 11 Asts: Gasana 6		Pts: Tang 27 Rebs: Wamukota 13 Asts: Wamukota, Deng 5

Wembley Stadium, Johannesburg

10 December 2021
18:30

Report

Ferroviário da Beira	77–75	Cape Town Tigers
Scoring by quarter: 27–15, 13–31, 18–20, 19–9
Pts: Nurmamade 24 Rebs: Ubisse 11 Asts: Kennedy 8		Pts: Ganapamo 17 Rebs: Preston 10 Asts: Preston, Kabongo 6

Wembley Stadium, Johannesburg

Third place game

The third place game was supposed to be played on 11 December 2021, however, the game was cancelled after six players tested positive on COVID-19 hours before the tip-off.^[11] It was a later announced that Cape Town qualified as New Star was forced to forfeit.^[12]

Cancelled

New Star

0–20

Cape Town Tigers

Wembley Stadium, Johannesburg

Final

11 December 2021
20:00

Report

Cobra Sport	65–91	Ferroviário da Beira
Scoring by quarter: 12–17, 18–28, 17–30, 18–16
Pts: Malual 21 Rebs: Mabior 6 Asts: Wamukota 6		Pts: Nurmamade 25 Rebs: Ubisse 9 Asts: Kennedy 7

Wembley Stadium, Johannesburg

Statistics

The following were the statistical leaders in the qualification games.^[13]

Individual statistic leaders

Category	Player	Team(s)	Statistic	Played
Efficiency per game	Benke Diarouma	AS Police	24.5	4
Points per game	Rolly Fula Nganga	Espoir Fukash	19.8	6
Rebounds per game	Benke Diarouma	AS Police	14.0	4
Assists per game	Tom Wamukota	Cobra Sport	5.3	4
Steals per game	Tom Wamukota	Cobra Sport	3.3	4
Blocks per game	Ibrahima Diallo	AS Police	2.8	4
Turnovers per game	Arsène Mwana Mwamba	Espoir Fukash	4.0	6
Minutes per game	Dane Miller Jr.	SLAC	36.2	4
FG%	Jermelle Kennedy	Ferroviário da Beira	56.7%	7
3P%	Joel Almeida	FAP	80.0%	4
FT%	Landry Ndikumana	New Star	71.4%	5
Double-doubles	Billy Preston	Cape Town Tigers	3	5
Double-doubles	Landry Ndikumana	New Star		5

Individual game highs

Category	Player	Team	Statistic
Efficiency	Benke Diarouma	AS Police	39
Points	Álvaro Calvo Masa	New Star	33
Rebounds	Benke Diarouma	AS Police	21
Assists	Micheal Afuwape	AS Nigelec	11
Steals	Jermelle Kennedy	Ferroviário da Beira	7
Steals	Micheal Afuwape	AS Nigelec	7
Blocks	Four players	–	5
Three pointers	Dieudonné Ndizeye	Cobra Sport	7
Three pointers	Timothy Terna Kwaor	AS Nigelec	7

Notes

^ On 6 December 2021, it was announced City Oilers had withdrawn due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[10]

References

^ ^a ^b "Draw results for second edition of Basketball Africa League Qualifiers confirmed". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 16 October 2021.
^ Ndour, Papa Lamine. "BAL : BC Espoir Fukash remplace BC Mazembe pour la RD Congo". Sport News Africa (in French). Retrieved 31 October 2021.
^ ^a ^b "24 teams set to battle for six remaining tickets for second edition of Basketball Africa League". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
^ "Battle line drawn for six teams in West Division of Road to BAL in Conakry". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
^ "Roche-Bois Warriors motivated and ready to learn at BAL Qualifiers". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
^ "Can Ben Uzoh help Cape Town Tigers qualify to the Basketball Africa League?". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
^ "Competition System". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 18 October 2021.
^ "Draw results for Elite 16 Round of Basketball Africa League Qualifiers confirmed". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
^ "Which teams will secure the last three tickets for season 2 of the Basketball Africa League?". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 11 December 2021.
^ "Which teams will cross the Johannesburg Elite 16 hurdle?". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 6 December 2021.
^ "Beira finish the Elite 16 Division East competition on a high note". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
^ "Cape Town Tigers qualify for BAL after New Star forfeit". ESPN.com. 27 January 2022. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
^ "Players statistics of the ROAD TO BAL 2022 2021". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 22 May 2022.

[cnote_Note_COD] 
DR Congo (COD): In FIBA's team list of 13 October 2020 national champions ASB Mazembe was announced to be the Congolese representative. However, the Fédération de basketball du Congo (FEBACO) eventually decided to enter 2021 champions Espoir Fukash.^[2]

[cnote_Note_ZIM] 
Zimbabwe (ZIM): The representative team from Zimbabwe, Mercenaries pulled out before its games in Group F started.^[3]

[table_hth_SLC0.10537661477242-10] Ranking based on point difference: 1) SLAC +13; 2) Espoir Fukash +2; 3) Nigelec –15.

[12] On 6 December 2021, it was announced City Oilers had withdrawn due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[10]

[start-1] "Draw results for second edition of Basketball Africa League Qualifiers confirmed". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 16 October 2021.

[2] Ndour, Papa Lamine. "BAL : BC Espoir Fukash remplace BC Mazembe pour la RD Congo". Sport News Africa (in French). Retrieved 31 October 2021.

[teamsbattle-3] "24 teams set to battle for six remaining tickets for second edition of Basketball Africa League". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 21 October 2021.

[4] "Battle line drawn for six teams in West Division of Road to BAL in Conakry". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 29 October 2021.

[5] "Roche-Bois Warriors motivated and ready to learn at BAL Qualifiers". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 21 October 2021.

[6] "Can Ben Uzoh help Cape Town Tigers qualify to the Basketball Africa League?". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 21 October 2021.

[7] "Competition System". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 18 October 2021.

[8] "Draw results for Elite 16 Round of Basketball Africa League Qualifiers confirmed". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 20 November 2021.

[9] "Which teams will secure the last three tickets for season 2 of the Basketball Africa League?". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 11 December 2021.

[11] "Which teams will cross the Johannesburg Elite 16 hurdle?". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 6 December 2021.

[13] "Beira finish the Elite 16 Division East competition on a high note". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 12 December 2021.

[14] "Cape Town Tigers qualify for BAL after New Star forfeit". ESPN.com. 27 January 2022. Retrieved 18 March 2022.

[15] "Players statistics of the ROAD TO BAL 2022 2021". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 22 May 2022.

[1]

[Note COD]

[2]

[3]

[Note ZIM]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[a]

[a]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[10]