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AS Sale vs. Petro de Luanda
They know each other well, they share the same Basketball Africa League (BAL) ambition, but now AS Salé and Petro de Luanda are set to lock horns for a place in the 2022 BAL semifinal.
These are two heavyweights in the African basketball scene with a storied past, and the matchup is arguably one of the most anticipated clashes in this year’s BAL calendar.
Although AS Salé and Petro de Luanda reached the 2022 BAL playoffs in different circumstances, everything starts from zero moving forward.
Petro de Luanda won four of their five Nile Conference games while AS Salé won three of their five Sahara Conference games to make it to the BAL playoffs.
When AS Salé and Petro de Luanda faced off a year ago in the inaugural BAL, the latter prevailed in their two meetings in the Rwandan capital.
In their group phase meeting, Petro de Luanda defeated AS Salé 97-78. Two days later, Petro beat AS Salé 79-72 in the quarterfinals.
If these two teams’ recent BAL statistics are anything to go by, then AS Salé have reasons to stay confident and move on from their two losses to Petro de Luanda last year.
A thorough look into the numbers indicates that AS Salé recorded a higher field goal percentage (46.16) compared to Petro’s 40.74 percent this season.
Petro de Luanda has moved the ball better, however, averaging 23 assists per contest compared to AS Salé’s 18.8. The Angolan champions are also more aggressive in the paint, recording 44 rebounds per game against AS Salé’s 39.
F.A.P vs. REG, 12 p.m. ET
Rwanda Energy Group (REG) have made it clear that staying in contention for the Basketball Africa League title is their utmost goal, but first, they need to pass a tough quarterfinals test.
Saturday afternoon, REG will go up against a resolute and combative Forces Armee e Police (FAP) of Cameroon, a team that has challenged some of the continent’s heavyweights on a number of occasions. The winner of the clash advances to the semis while the losing team will end their 2022 BAL journey.
Unlike FAP, REG are making their BAL debut this season, and they hope to make the most of their homecourt advantage. The Kigali-based club insists they have done the homework the right way and feel prepared for the task ahead.
FAP enjoyed a successful road to BAL campaign, having won all six games played at home in Yaounde. The Cameroonian champions won two of their five games in Nile Conference to qualify for the Kigali showdown, and are looking to improve on their BAL quarterfinals exit last year.
REG qualified to the BAL regular season automatically. Despite a 92-86 defeat to Dakar Universite Club (DUC), REG regrouped just in time to win the conference thanks to wins over AS Sale, Ferroviario da Beira, SLAC and US Monastir.
With 43.4 boards per game, FAP registers the highest number of rebounds per game than any other team in 2022 the BAL playoffs. That’s six more rebounds per game than REG.
Scoring from long range is something FAP will need to do better in Kigali as they posted just a 22 percent shooting clip from behind the arc compared to REG’s 37 percent.
One key aspect of REG’s game is their fast-paced ball movement, which resulted in 24 assists per game to FAP’s 12.