BAL: Noel Obadiah guides Rwanda’s APR past US Monastir

With four seconds left on the clock in the fourth quarter, Tunisian side US Monastir held a one-point lead and star player Marcus Crawford was on the line to shoot two free throws after he was fouled by Axel Mpoyo.

Rwandan side APR, making their Basketball Africa League debut, were running out of time in the Sahara Conference opener. Crawford sank the two free throws to give the 2022 BAL winners a 78-75 lead.

But from the inbound, Noel Obadiah used a few dribbled to pace to the other half of the court before pulling up for a long three-pointer to level matters, send the game to overtime and attract wild celebrations from the fans.

“Mamba mentality, that’s what was going through my mind when I made that shot,” Obadiah told the media in the post-game press conference.

And the debutants made no mistake in overtime, outscoring Monastir 11-6 to win 89-84 and record their first ever BAL win.

The closely contested game saw the two sides tied on 20 points at the end of the first quarter but it was Monastir who took a one-point (40-39) lead into the halftime break after edging the second frame 20-19.

Monastir, led by Marcus Crawford, stretched their lead to 55-52 at the end of the third quarter. It was Obadiah’s last-gasp three-pointer that gave APR hope in the end and the Rwanda army side carried the momentum into overtime to close the contest.

Obadiah, one of APR’s main additions, shot an impressive nine-for-10 from the free throw line enroute to a game-high 24 points. He shot six-for-23 from the field and had four rebounds and two assists to make his BAL debut.

Adonis Filer was the other star who impressed for APR, scoring 24 points, collecting four rebounds and dishing out four assists. Axel Mpoyo recorded 15 points and seven rebounds while Dario Hunt scored 10 points and gathered six rebounds.

For Monastir, Crawford scored a team-high 21 points and dished out seven assists while Ater Majok was one rebound short of a double-double. The big man scored 12 points and collected nine rebounds.

Sadio Doucoure and George Williams came off the bench to contribute 12 and 10 points respectively for Mohamed El-Kirdani’s charges.

APR, the third Rwandan team to feature in the BAL, after Patriots and REG, will now face Nigeria’s Rivers Hoopers on Sunday while Monastir take on host side AS Douanes.

Basketball Africa League

Sahara Conference

Results

US Monastir 84-89 APR

AS Douanes 68-77 Rivers Hoopers