{"id":74774,"date":"2024-06-03T13:13:02","date_gmt":"2024-06-03T13:13:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/bal-2024-petro-de-luanda-claimed-the-throne-what-else-stood-out"},"modified":"2024-06-03T14:08:36","modified_gmt":"2024-06-03T14:08:36","slug":"bal-2024-petro-de-luanda-claimed-the-throne-what-else-stood-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/bal-2024-petro-de-luanda-claimed-the-throne-what-else-stood-out","title":{"rendered":"BAL 2024: Petro de Luanda claimed the throne. What else stood out?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Rwanda. <\/strong><\/span>The Basketball Africa League (BAL) Season 4 concluded in style at the magnificent BK Arena in Kigali as Angolan giants Petro de Luanda won brought their four-year jinx to finally win the coveted championship.<\/p>\n

The Angolans beat Libya’s Al Ahly Ly 107-94 in a game that entertained thousands of fans, including President Paul Kagame and First Lady Jeannette Kagame, after an action-packed and tight playoff round that had unfolded days earlier.<\/p>\n

Times Sport\u2019s Damas Sikubwabo followed the weeklong tournament, and he looks at five things that shaped the tournament.<\/p>\n

Petro de Luanda finally take the trophy home<\/p>\n

After participating in all three past editions of the BAL, Petro de Luanda finally got to lay their hands on the coveted trophy.<\/p>\n

In the previous editions, the trophy had evaded Angolan powerhouse even though they boast rich basketball history on the continent, including winning two African Champions Cup in 2006 and 2015.<\/p>\n

After winning the BAL, Petro de Luanda booked an automatic ticket to represent Africa at the 2024 FIBA InterContinental Cup that will take place in Singapore in September.<\/p>\n

Acuil-Jr. shines, named 2024 BAL MVP<\/p>\n

BAL 2024 had a lot of good performers including Rivers Hoopers’ duo Will Perry and Divine Eke, as well as Petro de Luanda’s Childe Dundao to mention a few. However, Ahly Ly’s Jo-Lual Acuil Jr. did more than all of them and was hence named the Most Valuable Player (MVP).<\/p>\n

The South Sudanese, 30, took the major individual recognition thanks to his contributions in scoring where he set a new BAL record by scoring 42 points in the game against City Oilers of Uganda.<\/p>\n

In addition to his MVP recognition and his nomination to the 2024 All-BAL Defensive Team, the 2.10m center won the 2024 Dikembe Mutombo Defensive Player of the Year.<\/p>\n

Nigeria’s Rivers Hoopers put up a big challenge<\/p>\n

Rivers Hoopers reached the semi-finals, putting up a great performance that many Nigerians had failed to showcase since the BAL started in 2021.<\/p>\n

The Kingsmen outlasted former BAL champions US Monastir to advance to the semifinals. They were also the winners of the Sahara Conference earlier.<\/p>\n

Rwandan teams struggled, but fans never disappointed<\/p>\n

Despite APR\u2019s shock elimination from the conference stage of the competition in May, local fans went for the playoffs at BK Arena in good numbers.<\/p>\n

APR were eliminated at the conference level, and this was the worst performance by a Rwandan team since the BAL started in 2021.<\/p>\n

Entertainment lives up to the hype<\/p>\n

Although Rwanda was not represented in the playoffs, musicians did all they could to associate the tournament with Rwandans as their performances took the BK Arena by storm.<\/p>\n

As opposed to the inaugural season, different artistes performed during the just-concluded tournament in what could be described as a reveler to the fans.<\/p>\n

Artistes who headlined BAL Playoffs halftime show include Nigerian musician Adekunle Gold, The Ben, Bwiza, Ish Kevin, Kivumbi King and Kevin Kade, among others.<\/p>\n

The performances witnessed cemented the connection existing between basketball and misuc.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Rwanda<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Rwanda. The Basketball Africa League (BAL) Season 4 concluded in style at the magnificent BK Arena in Kigali as Angolan giants Petro de Luanda won brought their four-year jinx to finally win the coveted championship. The Angolans beat Libya’s Al Ahly Ly 107-94 in a game that entertained thousands of fans, including President […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":74773,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,18],"tags":[760,763,3502,1283,758],"class_list":["post-74774","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-sport","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-rwanda","tag-bal","tag-finals","tag-rwanda"],"yoast_head":"\nBAL 2024: Petro de Luanda claimed the throne. 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