2022 BAL Finals
Official promotion image for the finals
Event2022 BAL season
Petro de Luanda US Monastir
Angola Tunisia
(6–1) (6–1)
72 83
Head coach:
José Neto		 Head coach:
Miodrag Perišić
1234 Total
Petro de Luanda 17231913 72
US Monastir 18152426 83
Date28 May 2022
VenueBK Arena, Kigali, Rwanda
MVPMichael Dixon, US Monastir
FavoriteUS Monastir (1.38 decimal odds)[1]
RefereesHortensia Sanchez-Carrizales
Wael Ibrahim Mostafa
Marie Leslie Cherubin
Attendance10,000

The 2022 BAL Finals was the championship game of the 2022 BAL season, the second season of the Basketball Africa League (BAL). The final was played in the BK Arena in Kigali on 28 May 2022, between Angolan club Petro de Luanda and Tunisian club US Monastir.

US Monastir won the game after pulling away in the fourth quarter, winning its first BAL and its first African continental title. The game was attended by a sold-out crowd of 10,000.[2]

Teams

In the following table, finals in the FIBA Africa Clubs Champions Cup are in small text.

Team Previous final appearances (bold indicates winners)
Tunisia US Monastir 1 (2021)
Angola Petro de Luanda None
8 (1994, 1999, 2000, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012, 2015)

Venue

On 9 December 2021, The BK Arena, then named the "Kigali Arena", was announced as the venue of the 2022 BAL Playoffs.[3] This was the second consecutive final that was held at the arena.

Kigali
2022 BAL Finals (Africa)
BK Arena
Capacity: 10,000

Background

Petro de Luanda

Petro de Luanda qualified as the champions of the 2020–21 season and brought back Brazilian coach José Neto for a second season. The core of its roster remained intact, with Anderson Correia and Yanick Moreira being signed as reinforcements on 15 March 2022.[4][5]

Petro had its most successful season in history, as the team won the 2021–22 Angolan Basketball League with an unbeaten record of 33–0. On 11 May 2022, it captured its 15th national title after sweeping Interclube in the national finals.[6] As the team also won the Angolan Cup and the Angolan Supercup, it captured its first national treble.

In the 2022 BAL Nile Conference, Petro ended in second place after losing only to Zamalek. On 8 May, American guard E. C. Matthews was added to the roster ahead of the playoffs.[7] After defeating AS Salé in a re-match of last season's quarterfinal, Petro defeated FAP to reach its first-ever BAL final and its ninth African continental final.

US Monastir

US Monastir qualified for its second straight BAL season after winning the 2020–21 Championnat National A title. In the offseason, the club lost its All-BAL star players Omar Abada and Makrem Ben Romdhane in the offseason as they signed in Saudi Arabia and Portugal respectively. The roster was strengthened with Solo Diabate and Michael Dixon, however, while Ater Majok re-signed.

In its domestic competitions, Monastir had another dominant season as it captured its fourth consecutive national title on 11 May 2022, having defeated Ezzahra Sports in the finals. Three days later, on 14 May, Monastir also won the Tunisian Cup to complete the double.[8]

In the 2022 BAL Sahara Conference, Monastir finished second after a surprising loss against Rwandan club REG. Ahead of the playoffs, the team was strengthened with American guard Julius Coles Jr.[9] In the quarterfinals, the team blew out Cape Town Tigers by a season-high 39 points difference. In the semifinals, the team defeated Zamalek to take revenge for the previous season's final loss.

Road to the finals

Angola Petro de Luanda Round Tunisia US Monastir
Opponent Result Group phase Opponent Result
South Africa Cape Town Tigers 90–61 Round 1 Mozambique Ferroviário da Beira 77–71
South Sudan Cobra Sport 92–56 Round 2 Guinea SLAC 76–55
Egypt Zamalek 72–85 Round 3 Morocco AS Salé 96–90
Cameroon FAP 73–60 Round 4 Senegal DUC 74–62
Democratic Republic of the Congo Espoir Fukash 94–64 Round 5 Rwanda REG 74–77
Nile Conference second place
Pos Team Pld PCT
1 Egypt Zamalek (H) 5 1.000
2 Angola Petro de Luanda 5 .800
3 South Africa Cape Town Tigers 5 .400
4 Cameroon FAP 5 .400
5 South Sudan Cobra Sport 5 .200
6 Democratic Republic of the Congo Espoir Fukash 5 .200
Source: BAL, Afrobasket
(H) Hosts
 Regular season Sahara Conference second place
Pos Team Pld PCT
1 Rwanda REG 5 .800
2 Tunisia US Monastir 5 .800
3 Morocco AS Salé 5 .600
4 Guinea SLAC 5 .400
5 Mozambique Ferroviário da Beira 5 .200
6 Senegal DUC (H) 5 .200
Source: BAL, Afrobasket
(H) Hosts
Opponent Result Playoffs Opponent Result
Morocco AS Salé 102–89 Quarterfinals South Africa Cape Town Tigers 106–67
Cameroon FAP 88–74 Semifinals Egypt Zamalek 88–81

Game

US Monastir won the first quarter 17-18. In the second quarter, Petro de Luanda made a 8-0 run that included three-point field goals by Gerson Gonçalves and Carlos Morais, to end the first half with a 40-33 lead. Monastir shot 0-8 from behind the three-point line in the first half, and the Tunisian bench was outscored 17-2 by the Angolans.[10] Following free-throw misses and turnovers by Petro in the third quarter, Monastir only trailed 57-59. Michael Dixon scored a three-pointer to put Monastir up 60-59, their first lead in the second half. Petro big men Jone Pedro and Yanick Moreira were both fouled out with 8 minutes and 1 minutes to go, respectively. With three minutes to play, Carlos Morais made an unsportsmanlike foul on which Monastir capitalise to take a 72-67 lead. The game was sealed with 30 seconds to go after Radhouane Slimane picked up an offensive rebound after a Julius Coles Jr. miss and scored the basket to put Monastir up 78-72. Following a Petro de Luanda time-out, Monastir forward Firas Lahyani stole the ball which gave Petro no chance to come back. Michael Dixon shot 7-of-10 from the field and had 21 points and 6 assists in the game, and following his superb performance, he was named the BAL Most Valuable Player, following Walter Hodge as the second-ever winner of the award. Monastir center Ater Majok, who scored 14 points in the game, was named the BAL Defensive Player of the Year. Gerson Gonçalves scored 28 points for the losing Angolan side, followed by Yanick Moreira's 18 points off the bench.[10]

28 May 2022 Petro de Luanda Angola 72–83 Tunisia US Monastir Kigali
18:00 CAT Scoring by quarter: 17–18, 23–15, 19–24, 13–26
Pts: Gonçalves 28
Rebs: Moreira 7
Asts: Gonçalves 4
PIR: Gonçalves 27		 Boxscore
Pts: Dixon, Lahyani 21
Rebs: Lahyani 10
Asts: Dixon 6
PIR: Lahyani 24		 Arena: BK Arena
Attendance: 10,000
Referees: Hortensia Sanchez-Carrizales, Wael Ibrahim Mostafa, Marie Leslie Cherubin
Starters:PtsRebAst
PG 5 Angola Childe Dundão 1 3 2
SG 10 Angola Gerson Gonçalves 28 5 4
SF 6 Angola Carlos Morais 12 4 2
PF 15 Angola Aboubakar Gakou 3 4 3
C 21 Angola Jone Pedro 2 3 0
Reserves:
G 00 United States E. C. Matthews 0 1 0
G 1 Angola Gerson Domingos 3 2 0
C 2 Angola Yanick Moreira 18 7 0
F 4 Angola Olimpio Cipriano 3 3 1
G 11 Central African Republic Thierry Serge Darlan DNP
G 12 Cape Verde Anderson Correia DNP
F 24 Angola Ángelo Gouveia Alexandre DNP
Head coach:
Brazil José Neto
Petro jersey
Team colours
Petro
Monastir jersey
Team colours
Monastir

PetroStatisticsMonastir
13/24 (54%)2-pt field goals21/35 (60%)
10/28 (35%)3-pt field goals5/24 (20%)
16/28 (57%)Free throws26/34 (76%)
8Offensive rebounds8
30Defensive rebounds7
38Total rebounds26
12Assists20
28Turnovers18
4Steals11
3Blocks5
26Fouls24


2022 BAL champions
Tunisia
US Monastir
1st BAL title; 1st continental title
Starters:PtsRebAst
PG 00 Georgia (country) Michael Dixon 21 0 6
SG 5 United States Julius Coles Jr. 6 1 4
SF 45 Tunisia Radhouane Slimane 4 8 1
PF 23 Tunisia Firas Lahyani 21 10 2
C 13 South Sudan Ater Majok 14 4 1
Reserves:
F 1 Tunisia Oussama Marnaoui 9 1 1
G 2 Tunisia Neji Jaziri DNP
G 10 Ivory Coast Solo Diabate 4 3 3
G 11 Tunisia Houssem Mahemli 0 0 1
G/F 12 Cameroon Charles Loic Onana Awana DNP
F 15 Tunisia Wassef Methnani DNP
C 21 Tunisia Mokhtar Ghyaza 4 2 1
F 24 Tunisia Mohamed Abbassi DNP
Head coach:
Serbia Miodrag Perišić

Aftermath

To honour their championship, US Monastir was received at the Carthage Palace by Tunisian President Kais Saied.[11] The team was also congratulated on Twitter by Barack Obama, former President of the United States and an investor in the BAL.[12]

References

  1. ↑ "BAL 2022 Results & Historical Odds, Basketball Africa Archive". Oddsportal.com. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  2. ↑ "BAL Announces Teams, Conferences & Game Schedule Ahead of 2023 Season Tipping off March 11th". BAL. 13 February 2023. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
  3. ↑ BAL, NBA-. "BASKETBALL AFRICA LEAGUE TO TIP OFF EXPANDED SECOND SEASON MARCH 5". NBA - BAL. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  4. ↑ "Basquetebol: Internacional cabo-verdiano Anderson Correia reforça o Petro de Luanda". Balai (in European Portuguese). 9 March 2022. Retrieved 15 March 2022.
  5. ↑ "YANICK MOREIRA E ANDERSON CORREIA APRESENTADOS". Petro de Luanda (in European Portuguese). 14 March 2022. Retrieved 15 March 2022.
  6. ↑ "PETRO TRICAMPEÃO NACIONAL DE BASQUETEBOL". Petro de Luanda (in European Portuguese). 11 May 2022. Retrieved 11 May 2022.
  7. ↑ "NOVO JOGADOR PARA A BAL". Petro de Luanda (in European Portuguese). 8 May 2022. Retrieved 9 May 2022.
  8. ↑ "US Monastir conquer Cup 2022". www.afrobasket.com. Retrieved 14 May 2022.
  9. ↑ @@USMonastirBB (11 May 2022). "Welcome to the City of Champions Julius 💎" (Tweet). Retrieved 11 May 2022 – via Twitter.
  10. 1 2 "US Monastir are the 2022 Basketball Africa League Champions". The BAL. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  11. ↑ Boubaker, Saber Ben (3 June 2022). "Basket : le Président de la République reçoit l'US Monastir (Photos + Vidéo)". Sport By TN (in French). Retrieved 19 November 2022.
  12. ↑ "BAL : Barack Obama félicite l'US Monastir". Sportnewsafrica.com. 17 July 2022. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
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