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Sahara Conference

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sahara Conference
LeagueBasketball Africa League
SportBasketball
Founded2022
First season2022
No. of teams4
(2024–present)
6
(2022–2023)
Venue(s)Dakar Arena
Most recent
champion(s)
Tunisia US Monastir (1st title)
(2025)
Current sports event 2025 BAL season group phase#Sahara Conference

The Sahara Conference is one of the three conferences that make up the Basketball Africa League (BAL), the other two being the Nile Conference and the Kalahari Conference. All conferences currently consist of four teams.

The conference alignment began in the 2022 season, although plans to have conferences were already set up before the inaugural season. Named after the Sahara, the conference has been played at a single venue thus far, the Dakar Arena in Dakar, Senegal for the past two seasons.

Venues

[edit]

From 2022 to 2024, all games of the Sahara Conference were played at the Dakar Arena located in Dakar.[a]

Current standings

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Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD PCT Qualification
1 Tunisia US Monastir 6 4 2 478 444 +34 .667 Advance to playoffs
2 Angola Petro de Luanda 6 3 3 463 432 +31 .500[b]
3 Cape Verde Kriol Star 6 3 3 461 506 −45 .500[b]
4 Senegal ASC Ville de Dakar (H) 6 2 4 425 445 −20 .333
Source: BAL
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
(H) Hosts
Notes:
  1. ^ Officially, the Dakar Arena is located in the town of Diamniadio.
  2. ^ a b Head-to-head: Petro de Luanda 1–1 Kriol Star, +26 point differential.
Advertisement for the Sahara Conference in 2023

Conference winners

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Although no official trophy or title is awarded, the team ending at the top of the standings in the conference is lauded as "Conference winners" by the BAL.

Sahara Conference results
Season Winners Conference

record

Playoffs result Ref.
2022 (Details) Rwanda REG (RWA) 4–1 (.800) Lost in quarter-finals [1]
2023 (Details) Mali Stade Malien (MLI) 3–2 (.600) Won third place game [2]
2024 (Details) Nigeria Rivers Hoopers (NGR) 4–2 (.667) Won third place game
2025 (Details) Tunisia US Monastir (TUN) 4–2 (.667) TBD [3]

Titles by team

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Team Titles Season(s) won
Rwanda REG 1 2022
Mali Stade Malien 1 2023
Nigeria Rivers Hoopers 1 2024
Tunisia US Monastir 1 2025

Standings

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^ Denotes team that won the BAL championship
+ Denotes team that lost in the BAL finals
* Denotes team that qualified for the BAL playoffs
Season Positions (by team)
1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th
2022 REG*
(4–1)
Monastir^
(4–1)
AS Salé* (3–2) SLAC*
(3–2)
Ferroviário
(1–4)
DUC
(1–4)
2023 Stade Malien*
(3–2)
AS Douanes+
(3–2)
REG* (3–2) ABC Fighters*
(3–2)
Monastir
(3–2)
Kwara Falcons
(0–5)
2024 Rivers Hoopers*
(4–2)
AS Douanes*
(3–3)
US Monastir*
(3–3)
APR
(2–4)
2025 US Monastir*
(4–2)
Rivers Hoopers*
(3–3)
Kriol Star*
(3–3)
ASC Ville de Dakar
(2–4)

Notes

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References

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  1. ^ "Rwanda's REG win Sahara leg, AS Sale into BAL playoffs". ESPN.com. 16 March 2022. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  2. ^ "How Stade Malien became Kings of Basketball Africa League Sahara Conference". OJB SPORT. 29 March 2023. Archived from the original on 29 March 2023. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  3. ^ "Eldridge puts on a three-point show to send Monastir to Pretoria". The BAL. Retrieved 30 May 2025.