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.

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
← 2021
2023 →

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

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

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

Venue

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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

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Petro de Luanda

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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

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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

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

Game

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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   72–83   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: Pts Reb Ast
PG 5   Childe Dundão 1 3 2
SG 10   Gerson Gonçalves 28 5 4
SF 6   Carlos Morais 12 4 2
PF 15   Aboubakar Gakou 3 4 3
C 21   Jone Pedro 2 3 0
Reserves:
G 00   E. C. Matthews 0 1 0
G 1   Gerson Domingos 3 2 0
C 2   Yanick Moreira 18 7 0
F 4   Olimpio Cipriano 3 3 1
G 11   Thierry Serge Darlan DNP
G 12   Anderson Correia DNP
F 24   Ángelo Gouveia Alexandre DNP
Head coach:
  José Neto
 
 
 
 
Petro
 
 
 
 
Monastir

0

Petro Statistics Monastir
13/24 (54%) 2-pt field goals 21/35 (60%)
10/28 (35%) 3-pt field goals 5/24 (20%)
16/28 (57%) Free throws 26/34 (76%)
8 Offensive rebounds 8
30 Defensive rebounds 7
38 Total rebounds 26
12 Assists 20
28 Turnovers 18
4 Steals 11
3 Blocks 5
26 Fouls 24


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

Aftermath

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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

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  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. ^ a b "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.