#BAL2023,Mali champions Stade Malien are bronze medallists of the 2023 Basketball Africa League after beating Angola’s Petro de Luanda 73-65 in the third-place game on Friday, May 26, at BK Arena, in Kigali, Rwanda.
Kaba Kante’s boys opened with a 20-15 run to finish the first quarter. But Petro de Luanda bounced back with a win in the second quarter 19-16 to go into halftime 36-34.
Back in the second half, Angola champions Petro de Luanda continued to dominate Stade Malien with a win in the third quarter 20-14 but Stade Malien came back stronger in the last quarter with 23-11.
Malian’s Aliou Diarra scored a game-high 25 points and added 12 rebounds, while team captain Makan Keita added 8 points.
“This is the first time we participated in this competition and we are happy to have won third place. I am very grateful to the players for their performance since they started in BAL,” said Kaba Kante, the head coach of Stade Malien
Al Ahly and AS Dounaes will play on Saturday, May 27, at 18:00 (local time).
