Al Ahly SC pass toughest test of the first round with hard-fought win over Bangui SC

Al Ahly SC passed their toughest test of the first round of the 2024 Nile Conference on Monday night thanks to a hard-fought 85-79 win against Bangui Sporting Club.

It was Al Ahly SC's smallest winning margin since beating Al Ahly Ly 98-86 and overcome City Oilers 99-76.

The BAL debutant Bangui Club pushed the reigning champions to the limit for most of the game.

Al Ahly SC never led by more than 10 points, and Bangui SC even took a one-point lead (70-69) with 4:45 minutes left thanks to a 3-pt shot from rising star Thierry Darlan.

Fearing what would have been the biggest surprise of the conference, Al Ahly SC boss Agusti Bosch called out a timeout, which successfully halted Bangui’s momentum.

Al Ahly SC used a decisive 8-0 run that gave them a 77-70 lead with 3:08 minutes on the clock, and they never trailed again.

“Congrats to Bangui because they made us play to the best our abilities to win the game,” Bosch admitted.

“We struggled to have the right mentality during the game.”

Ehab Amin, Prince Ali and Amr Gendy, all finished with 14 points each; Omar Oraby added 13 points off the bench and, in the process, Al Ahly SC improved their Nile Conference mark to 3-0.

Bangui SC out-rebounded the reigning champions 51-39, but their 18 turnovers and a poor free-throw shooting 15-22 proved costly.

Rolly Fula finished with a game-high of 27 points and Darlan came up with his second consecutive double-double (23 points and 14 rebounds) of the season, but the Al Ahly SC stood firm to improve their home record to 7-1 dating back to April 2023.

Despite their second loss in three games, Bangui SC guard Kurt Curry Wegscheider remains upbeat about his team’s playoff aspirations.

“We sent a message that Bangui came here to play and we are ready to go to Kigali. We’ll see where this journey is going to take us,” Wegscheider stressed.

He went on to credit the victors for their team effort.

“Shout out to Al Ahly. They are a good team that knows how to play as a team.”

“We really tried to win the game at any cost,” said the NBA Academy Africa alumni who contributed 8 points off the bench.

Offensively, Wegscheider, admitted, “We struggled a little bit with our shot selection, otherwise we could have come victorious.”

But when asked to delve into the reason to Bangui’s loss, Wegscheider admitted: “The key moment was the 3-pt shots that they made right at the end of game. Those type of shots can kill everything.”

Bangui SC will take on Al Ahly Ly Wednesday while Al Ahly SC take on City Oilers.