Tunisia's US Monastir fight back to win Basketball Africa League 2022 title

US Monastir celebrate with the BAL trophyGetty Images

US Monastir returned to lift the BAL title after finishing as runners-up last season

Tunisia's US Monastir were crowned Basketball Africa League (BAL) champions after coming from behind to beat Petro de Luanda in the final in Rwanda.

Monastir trailed 40-33 at half-time and 59-57 at the end of the third quarter in Kigali, but fought back to run out 83-72 winners against the Angolan club.

Point guard Michael Dixon scored a team-high 21 points for the North African side, and the 31-year-old also dished out six assists.

Monastir, who were runners-up in the inaugural BAL final last year, overcame defending champions Zamalek in the semi-finals on Wednesday.

Dixon won the Hakeem Olajuwon BAL Most Valuable Player award after recording averages of 16.5 points and 4.1 assists per game this season.

Victory completed a treble for Monastir after winning the Tunisian League and Tunisia Cup.

The second year of the BAL saw a total of 38 games played, an increase of 12 matches from the first campaign.

The 12 competing sides were split into two conferences; the Sahara Conference was based in Dakar, Senegal, and played in March, with the Nile Conference following in Cairo, Egypt, last month.

Egyptian giants Zamalek beat Cameroon's Forces Armees et Police (FAP) 97-74 in the third-placed play-off on Friday.

Ahead of the final, Petro coach Jose Neto was voted 2022 BAL coach of the year, having progressed through the Nile Conference and the play-offs with a 6-1 record.

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BAL 2022 play-off results

Final: Petro de Luanda 72-83 US Monastir

Third-place play-off: FAP 74-97 Zamalek

Semi-finals:

  • Petro de Luanda 88-74 FAP

  • US Monastir 88-81 Zamalek

Quarter-finals:

  • REG (Rwanda) 63-66 FAP (Cameroon)

  • AS Sale (Morocco) 89-102 Petro de Luanda (Angola)

  • Zamalek (Egypt) 66-49 SLAC (Guinea)

  • Cape Town Tigers (South Africa) 67-106 US Monastir (Tunisia)

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