Wasteful Nairobi City Thunder fall to Dar City in Basketball Africa League

Nairobi City Thunder on Saturday threw away a healthy lead many times before losing 90-85 to Dar City from Tanzania in their opening match of the Basketball Africa League (BAL) Kalahari Conference in Pretoria, South Africa.

It was Dar City’s second consecutive victory at the iconic SunBet Arena, having beaten the home team, Johannesburg Giants, 100-70 on Friday.

The last time the Giants and Dar City faced off, the South African champions beat the Tanzanian team 71–69 in Nairobi in the East Division Elite 16 qualifiers last year.

On Friday, BAL debutants RSSB Tigers from Rwanda stunned 2024 runners-up Al Ahly Ly (Benghazi) from Libya 103-95 in the opening clash of the championship.

Nairobi City Thunder will now seek to revive their campaign in the tournament on Sunday against Johannesburg Giants from 7pm (Kenyan time).

City Thunder beat Johannesburg Giants 94-84 to win the East Division Elite 16 and return to the Conference championship last year in Nairobi.

On Saturday, David Benoit made two free throws to draw Dar City level 85-85 with more than a minute left on the clock.  Michael Foster then sank a three-pointer to give Dar City the lead at 88-85, with just 16 seconds remaining on the clock.

Then Benoit intercepted a poor pass from City Thunder’s Garang Diing off Eugene Adera’s foul and put his team 90-85 ahead.

Nairobi City Thunder player Joseph Nzeakor missed a three-pointer as the buzzer sounded, eliciting wild celebration from Dar City’s players and the technical bench.

The lead changed several times in the first quarter, and neither side led by more than four points. Dar City led for long spells in the first quarter before Shaheed Davis sank two points to level 24-24 for City Thunder.

City Thunder then claimed the second quarter 26-22 for a 50-46 lead at the break. Diing had the final say in the final moments of the second quarter, scoring a three-pointer for City Thunder. At one time in the second half, City Thunder enjoyed a 10-point lead when the scores stood at 45-35, with Lance Robert and Eugene Adera’s contributions.

But Benoit, Foster and Deng Junior Madut Ring proved a thorn in City Thunder's flesh, bringing Dar City back into the match for a 21-20 scoreline in the final quarter.

Nairobi City Thunder are competing in the Kalahari Conference group phase against RSSB Tigers from Rwanda, Al Ahly Ly (Benghazi) from Libya, and Dar City. Matches in the conference will end on April 5 in Pretoria.

BAL, a partnership between the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) and NBA Africa, is a professional league featuring 12 club teams from across Africa.  Headquartered in Dakar, Senegal, BAL builds on the foundation of club competitions FIBA Africa has organised across the continent, and marks the NBA’s first collaboration to operate a league outside North America.

This season, the 12 teams have been divided into two conferences - the Kalahari Conference and the Sahara Conference - of six teams each. Each conference will play a 15-game group phase during which each team will face the other five teams in its conference once.

Nairobi City Thunder will compete in the Kalahari Conference group phase from March 27 to April 5 in Pretoria. The Sahara Conference group phase will take place from April 24 to May 3 at Prince Moulay Abdellah Sports Complex in Rabat. Eight teams from across the two conferences will qualify for the BAL playoffs scheduled for Kigali from May 22 – 31.

City Thunder are playing Dar City Basketball Club from Tanzania, South Africa's Johannesburg Giants, and 2024 champions Petro de Luanda of Angola. The fourth team in the group – APR of Rwanda – have withdrawn from the tournament.

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