The 2024 BAL Nile Conference was the 3rd season of the Nile Conference, one of the three conferences of the 2024 season of the Basketball Africa League (BAL). The composition of the conference and the schedule were announced on 15 February 2024.[1] The conference games began on 19 April and ended on 27 April 2024.
Al Ahly won the conference with a 5–1 record,[2] and Al Ahly Ly qualified for the playoffs as second ranked team.
Source: BAL Rules for classification: Tiebreakers (H) Hosts Notes:
^ abHead-to-head: Al Ahly Ly and Bangui SC were tied 1–1 in their games, +19 point differential for Al Ahly Ly over these two games.
Games
Gameday 1
The two sides had met each other in the 2024 BAL qualification, where Bangui defeated Al Ahly 87–85 in the semifinal to qualify for the BAL season.[3]
Bangui opened the first quarter strong and scored its first nine points from behind the three-point line, and went up 29–26 after the first quarter. In the second, Al Ahly Ly went on a 15–0 run and never trailed again in the game. Their backcourt duo of Kevin Murphy and Pierre Jackson combined for 41 points.[4]
Al Ahly and City Oilers played their second BAL game, after Al Ahly had won in the previous season's Nile Conference. In the second quarter, Al Ahly used a 19–0 run to take the lead and never trailed again the comprehensive win.[5]Ehab Amin led his team with 16 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists, while Mark Lyons contributed 14 points for the Egyptians.[6]Patrick Rembert scored 21 points for the Oilers while BAL Elevate youngster Khaman Maluach recorded 16 points and 8 rebounds off the bench for the Oilers.[6]
Going into the last gameday, Bangui SC could win the conference following a win over Al Ahly and City Oilers could theoretically qualify for the third place.[9] In the win that clinched Al Ahly Ly's playoff spot, Jo Lual-Acuil set a new BAL record for most points in a single game with 42 points.[10]
Following their convincing win over Bangui SC, Al Ahly won their first conference title.[11] Because of the result, Kalahari Conference team Cape Town Tigers qualified for the playoffs as one of the two best third-placed teams, while Bangui had to wait for the results of the Sahara Conference.[2]
