The Senegal representative in the Basketball Africa League (BAL) made a winning start to the tournament in the Kigali Arena (Rwanda), beating Groupement Sportif des Pétroliers (Algeria) 94 to 76.
By Ibrahima Dione
For the first day of this interclub competition, the Association Sportive des Douanes showed mastery.
At halftime, the defending champion of the Senegalese basketball league held a seven-point lead over their opponents.
During the last two quarters, teammates of the international Louis Adams increased the gap by ending the game with 94 points against 76 for GS Petroliers.
BAL, which will be played from May 16 to 30 in Kigali, Rwanda, pits the twelve best African Basketball teams: AS Douanes (Senegal), Rivers Hoopers BC (Nigeria), Union Sportive de Salé (Morocco), GS Pétroliers (Algeria), Forces Armées et Police (Cameroon), Zamalek (Egypt), Gendarmerie Nationale Basketball Club (Madagascar), Association Sportive de la Police (Mali), Patriots BC (Rwanda), Union Sportive de Monastir (Tunisia), Petro de Luanda (Angola) and Ferroviàrio Maputo (Mozambique).
They are divided into three groups of four teams.
At the end of the first round, the top two teams in each group and the two best third-placed teams will advance to the quarter-finals.
A total of 26 games will be played in the BAL, which was created by the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the International Basketball Federation (FIBA).
Initially, the competition should have started in March 2020 with mini-tournaments held in different cities across the continent.
But due to the coronavirus pandemic, the format of a final phase in Kigali was retained.
ID/lb/as/APA