THE Basketball Africa League (BAL) Season 6 playoffs tip off on Friday with a former champion, Al Ahly of Egypt, looking to return to the throne. Ahly’s opponents, Senegal’s ASC Ville de Dakar, in their second BAL season, made it past the regular season for the first time and are looking to make strides in the playoffs.
For the first time, the quarterfinals will be decided by two games. Al Ahly, the 2023 champions, return to the same BK Arena where they once lifted the trophy.
When these two met in the Sahara Conference, the game was very tough. A back-and-forth fight that stayed close right to the end. Al Ahly escaped with a 76-72 win, but Dakar proved they can hang with the conference’s best. Now they meet again, this time with everything on the line across two games instead of one.
New Playoff format
The quarter-finals are played as a two-game series. Both teams will play each other twice, and the one with the higher total score across both games moves on to the semifinals. If the aggregate score is tied, overtime will be played to determine the winner.
Now coaches have to think differently: do you push hard in Game 1 or save energy for Game 2? Do you risk foul trouble early, knowing there’s another game coming? Every point matters, even in a loss.
The four quarter-final winners then move on to single-elimination semi-finals, with the two winners there meeting in the championship game and the two semi-final losers playing for third place.
Al Ahly Egypt
Al Ahly finished second in the Sahara Conference with four wins and one loss, posting a +38 point differential – the best in the Sahara Conference.
Their only defeat was a one-point heartbreaker to Club Africain, 68-69, in a game that came down to the final seconds. But they showed their resilience, and a day later, Al Ahly bounced back to beat this same Dakar. That win proved the Egyptians could handle adversity and find ways to close out games.
ASC Ville de Dakar
For ASC Ville de Dakar, the Senegalese champions arrive as the seventh-seeded team with a 3-2 record and a +16 point differential, stepping into uncharted territory with their first-ever playoff appearance and an opportunity to become only the second Senegalese team to reach the BAL semi-finals.
Their path to Kigali was anything but smooth. Two straight losses to Club Africain and Ahly put the pressure on, and Dakar responded by winning their final three games to earn their place in the playoffs.
They’re the third Senegalese team in BAL history. Back home, they’re back-to-back Senegal champions (2024 and 2025).
Why Al Ahly Could Win
Al Ahly could win this series. They have the psychological edge following the win over ASC during conference play, and they have the best shooters in the field. Zachary Lofton and Kevin Murphy can both go off on any night. Lofton dropped 32 against FUS Rabat, and Murphy averages 20.7 points on elite efficiency. If both of them shoot well from three across two games, this could end fast. The two-game format rewards the deeper, more explosive team, and that’s Al Ahly.
Why Dakar Could Pull the Upset
But don’t count Dakar out. They have three players who have won at the highest level. Solo Diabate has two BAL championships (2021 and 2022) under his belt, Ater Majok won the title and was the defensive player of the year in 2022, and Alex Toupane has an NBA championship. They already proved in Rabat that they can hang with Al Ahly for 40 minutes, even leading and tying the game in the fourth quarter.
X-Factors to Watch
Several elements could swing this series. Foul trouble for Majok or Diabate would negatively affect Dakar’s chances to drop immediately; they cannot afford to play significant minutes without their defensive anchor or floor general.
Three-point variance is critical. As Dakar shooting 35% or better from deep makes them competitive, while shooting below 25% puts them in serious trouble, given their inconsistent 5-for-21 performance against Club Africain.
The signing of Cape Verdean point guard Williams Tavares by AS and the 2023 BAL MVP Nuni Omot rejoining Al Ahly will raise the competitive bar for both teams.
Bench contributions matter significantly in a two-game format, and whichever team’s reserves can provide more points across two games will gain a major advantage.
Finally, the coaching battle between Gavriel and Gaye will test who can make the better in-series adjustments between Game One and Game Two.
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