2021 BAL Finals

The 2021 BAL Finals was the championship game of the inaugural season of the Basketball Africa League (BAL). The final was played in the Kigali Arena in Kigali on 30 May 2021. The game was played between Egyptian club Zamalek and Tunisian club US Monastir.

2021 BAL Final
Official promotional material for the game[1]
Event2021 BAL season
US Monastir Zamalek
Tunisia Egypt
(5–0) (5–0)
63 76
Head coach:
Mounir Ben Slimane		 Head coach:
Augustí Julbe
1234 Total
US Monastir 2220912 63
Zamalek 17271121 76
Date30 May 2021
VenueKigali Arena, Kigali, Rwanda
MVPWalter Hodge
Referees
  • Samir Abaakil (Morocco)
  • Marie Leslie Cherubin (Mauritius)
  • Kingsley Ojeaburu (Nigeria)
Attendance1,789[2]

Due to COVID-19 pandemic regulations, attendance in the arena was limited and 1,789 people were present.[2] Zamalek defeated Tunisian side Monastir 76–63 to win its first BAL championship and second African championship, having won the 1992 continental title. As such, the team qualified for the 2021 FIBA Intercontinental Cup. Zamalek's Walter Hodge was named league MVP after the final.

Teams
Team Previous final appearances (bold indicates winners)
Tunisia US Monastir None
Egypt Zamalek None
3 in FIBA Africa Basketball League (1975, 1976, 1992)

Venue

On 1 August 2019, the Kigali Arena, built and opened in 2019, was announced as host of the Final Four of the BAL tournament.[3] The arena has a capacity for approximately 10,000 people and hosted the AfroBasket 2021 qualifiers and Rwandan National Basketball League before.

The format of the league was later changed and the entire season was eventually played in Kigali. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, attendance was limited and all spectators had to follow social distancing rules.

Kigali
2021 BAL Finals (Africa)
Kigali Arena
Capacity: 10,000

Background

US Monastir
See also: 2020–21 US Monastir basketball season

US Monastir won the Pro A in 2019, to qualify for the inaugural BAL season. The team has also won the championship in 2020 and won the 2020–21 season on 27 April 2021, after defeating rivals Ezzahra Sports in the finals.[4] to achieve a total of 6 titles in the league. On April 12, 2021, the team signed Mounir Ben Slimane as its new head coach.[5]

In 2014, Monastir made its debut in the FIBA Africa Club Championship, Africa's top continental league, for the first time.[6] In 2017, the club ended at third place in the continental league.[7]

The Monastir team featured seven players who were also members of the Tunisian national team. During the BAL, the team impressed in the group stage by beating all its opponents and being the only team to achieve more than 100 points in a single game as they beat GNBC of Madagascar by 113 to 66. They qualified as the first seed to the play-offs and were deemed as "favourites" for the title prior to the league start by ESPN.[8]

Zamalek
See also: 2020–21 Zamalek SC (basketball) season
It was the first season as head coach for Augustí Julbe

Zamalek won the Egyptian Super League in 2019, its first title in 11 years, to qualify for the inaugural BAL season. In the 1990s, the club had been successful at the continental level as well with a FIBA Africa Basketball League title in 1992 and a lost final in 1998. Adding up appearances in the former FIBA competition, this was Zamalek's fifth continental final.

It was the first season under Spanish head coach Augustí Julbe, who arrived from Gran Canaria. At the moment of playing in the BAL, Zamalek was still active in the semifinals of the 2020–21 Egyptian League.[9] Ahead of the season, the team strengthened itself with Michael Fakuade,[10] Mouloukou Diabate[11] and Chinemelu Elonu.[12] The team played impressive in the group stage, beating all three opponents to go into the playoffs as the second seed.

Road to the finals
Tunisia US Monastir Round Egypt Zamalek
Opponent Result Group stage Opponent Result
Madagascar GNBC 113–66 Round 1 Mozambique Ferroviário de Maputo 71–55
Nigeria Rivers Hoopers 99–70 Round 2 Senegal AS Douanes 86–62
Rwanda Patriots 91–75 Round 3 Algeria GS Pétroliers 97–64
Group A first place
Pos Team Pld Pts
1 Tunisia US Monastir 3 6
2 Rwanda Patriots (H) 3 5
3 Nigeria Rivers Hoopers 3 4
4 Madagascar GNBC 3 3
Source: BAL
(H) Hosts
 Regular season Group C first place
Pos Team Pld Pts
1 Egypt Zamalek 3 6
2 Mozambique Ferroviário de Maputo 3 5
3 Senegal AS Douanes 3 4
4 Algeria GS Pétroliers 3 3
Source: BAL
Opponent Result Playoffs Opponent Result
Senegal AS Douanes 86–62 Quarterfinals Cameroon FAP 82–53
Rwanda Patriots 87–64 Semifinals Angola Petro de Luanda 89–71

Game
30 May 2021 US Monastir Tunisia 63–76 Egypt Zamalek Kigali
16:00 CAT (14:00 GMT) Scoring by quarter: 22–17, 20–27, 9–11, 12–21
Pts: Ben Romdhane, Crawford 14
Rebs: Ben Romdhane 10
Asts: Abada 5
PIR: Three players 12		 Report
 Pts: Fakuade 15
Rebs: Elonu 12
Asts: Diabate 6
PIR: Elonu 22		 Arena: Kigali Arena
Attendance: 1,789
Referees: Samir Abaakil (Morocco), Marie Leslie Cherubin (Mauritius), Kingsley Ojeaburu (Nigeria)


Starters:PtsRebAst
PG 00 Tunisia Omar Abada 13 4 5
SG 5 Tunisia Mourad El Mabrouk 2 3 0
SF 15 Tunisia Radhouane Slimane 14 10 1
PF 24 Tunisia Makrem Ben Romdhane 1 4 5
C 21 Sudan Ater Majok 3 6 0
Reserves:
G 1 Tunisia Neji Jaziri DNP
G 2 United States Chris Crawford 14 3 1
G 10 Lebanon Wael Arakji 13 1 2
F 11 Tunisia Oussama Marnaoui DNP
G 22 Tunisia Eskander Bhouri DNP
F 23 Tunisia Firas Lahyani 0 0 0
C 32 Tunisia Mokhtar Ghyaza 2 5 1
Head coach:
Tunisia Mounir Ben Slimane
Monastir jersey
Team colours
Monastir
Zamalek jersey
Team colours
Zamalek

0

MonastirStatisticsZamalek
17/43 (39%)2-pt field goals24/38 (63%)
4/23 (17%)3-pt field goals7/24 (29%)
17/26 (65%)Free throws7/12 (58%)
15Offensive rebounds8
25Defensive rebounds32
40Total rebounds40
12Assists15
18Turnovers19
8Steals5
4Blocks5
17Fouls26


2021 BAL champions
Egypt
Zamalek
1st BAL title; 2nd continental title
Starters:PtsRebAst
PG 00 United States Virgin Islands Walter Hodge 12 1 4
SG 2 Egypt Mohab Yasser 14 3 2
SF 12 Egypt Eslam Salem 0 1 0
PF 10 Egypt Anas Mahmoud 5 6 2
C 50 Egypt Mostafa Kejo 0 3 0
Reserves:
G 1 Ivory Coast Mouloukou Diabate 14 3 6
G 14 Egypt Ahmed Hatem DNP
G 15 Egypt Omar Hesham 5 2 0
F 23 Egypt Ahmed Abdelwahab 0 0 0
C 24 Nigeria Michael Fakuade 15 2 1
F 41 Egypt Haytham Elsaharty DNP
C 42 Nigeria Chinemelu Elonu 11 12 0
Head coach:
Spain Augustí Julbe

References
  1. Basketball Africa League [@theBAL] (29 May 2021). "THE BAL FINALS TOMORROW AT 4 PM/CAT ⚡🏆! GAME ON! @ZSCOfficial_EN 🇪🇬vs @usmonastir_org 🇹🇳 t.co/fwisdNXxwT" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 13 June 2021. Retrieved 26 July 2021 – via Twitter.
  2. "LiveStats". fibalivestats.dcd.shared.geniussports.com. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
  3. Staff, S. V. G. "NBA's Basketball Africa League Reveals Seven Host Cities for Inaugural Season". Sports Video Group. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  4. "U.S. Monastir History". Eurobasket.com. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  5. "الاتحاد المنستيري : تعيين منير بن سليمان في خطة مشرف عام على فرع كرة السلة". JawharaFM (in Arabic). Retrieved 25 May 2022.
  6. "U.S. Monastir Team Profile". Eurobasket.com. Archived from the original on 3 June 2021. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  7. Africa Champions Cup
  8. "BAL favourites US Monastir make light work of GNBC". ESPN. 2021-05-18. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  9. "Egyptian Basketball, News, Teams, Scores, Stats, Standings, Awards - afrobasket". www.afrobasket.com. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  10. "Michael Fakuade joins Zamalek for the BAL". The BAL Report. 17 April 2021. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
  11. Abduljalil, Yusuf (17 April 2021). "Al Zamalek tabs Souleyman Diabate". Afrobasket.com. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
  12. "Al Zamalek tabs Chinemelu Elonu for BAL". Afrobasket.com. 18 April 2021. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
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