2026 BAL playoffs
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Country | Rwanda |
| City | Kigali |
| Venue | BK Arena |
| Dates | 22–31 May 2026 |
| Teams | 8 |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  RSSB Tigers (1st title) |
| Runners-up |  Petro de Luanda |
| Third place |  Al Ahly Ly |
| Fourth place |  Al Ahly |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 12 |
The 2026 BAL playoffs was the postseason tournament of the 2026 BAL season which determined the champions of the sixth Basketball Africa League (BAL) season. The playoffs began on 22 May 2026 with the quarterfinals and finished on 31 May 2026 with the final. All twelve games were played in the BK Arena in Kigali, Rwanda.
The quarterfinals were played as two-legged ties decided on aggregate score, while the semifinals, third place game and final were single games. The RSSB Tigers won the title in their debut season, beating Petro de Luanda 90–88 in the final, and became the first Rwandan team to win the BAL.
Qualified teams
The top four teams from each of the two conferences of the group phase qualified for the playoffs. ASC Ville de Dakar, Club Africain, Dar City and the RSSB Tigers made their playoff debuts.
| Team | Conference | Record | Seed | Playoff appearance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Petro de Luanda |
Kalahari | 4–1 | 1 | 6th |
| Al Ahly |
Sahara | 4–1 | 2 | 3rd |
| RSSB Tigers |
Kalahari | 4–1 | 3 | 1st |
 Club Africain |
Sahara | 4–1 | 4 | 1st |
| Al Ahly Ly |
Kalahari | 3–2 | 5 | 2nd |
 FUS Rabat |
Sahara | 3–2 | 6 | 3rd |
 ASC Ville de Dakar |
Sahara | 3–2 | 7 | 1st |
 Dar City |
Kalahari | 2–3 | 8 | 1st |
Seeding
To determine the quarterfinal pairings, the eight qualified teams were seeded from 1 to 8 based on their performance across group phase games.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | GF | GA | GD | PCT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Petro de Luanda |
5 | 4 | 1 | 484 | 378 | +106 | .800 |
| 2 | Al Ahly |
5 | 4 | 1 | 395 | 357 | +38 | .800 |
| 3 | RSSB Tigers |
5 | 4 | 1 | 483 | 455 | +28 | .800 |
| 4 | Club Africain |
5 | 4 | 1 | 387 | 369 | +18 | .800 |
| 5 | Al Ahly Ly |
5 | 3 | 2 | 520 | 456 | +64 | .600 |
| 6 | FUS Rabat |
5 | 3 | 2 | 390 | 339 | +51 | .600 |
| 7 | ASC Ville de Dakar |
5 | 3 | 2 | 380 | 364 | +16 | .600 |
| 8 | Dar City |
5 | 2 | 3 | 454 | 477 | −23 | .400 |
Source: BAL
Rules for classification: Teams were seeded on their group phase records; the seeding determined the quarterfinal pairings, in which the first seed met the eighth, the second met the seventh, the third met the sixth and the fourth met the fifth.
Rules for classification: Teams were seeded on their group phase records; the seeding determined the quarterfinal pairings, in which the first seed met the eighth, the second met the seventh, the third met the sixth and the fourth met the fifth.
Bracket
| Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Final | ||||||||||||||
| 1 | Petro de Luanda
| 82 | 83 | 165 | ||||||||||||
| 8 | Dar City
| 88 | 69 | 157 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Petro de Luanda
| 94 | ||||||||||||||
| 5 | Al Ahly Ly
| 88 | ||||||||||||||
| 4 | Club Africain
| 87 | 80 | 167 | ||||||||||||
| 5 | Al Ahly Ly
| 88 | 98 | 186 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Petro de Luanda
| 88 | ||||||||||||||
| 3 | RSSB Tigers
| 90 | ||||||||||||||
| 2 | Al Ahly
| 90 | 87 | 177 | ||||||||||||
| 7 | ASC Ville de Dakar
| 93 | 76 | 169 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | Al Ahly
| 97 | Third place game | |||||||||||||
| 3 | RSSB Tigers
| 106 | ||||||||||||||
| 3 | RSSB Tigers
| 95 | 98 | 193 | 5 | Al Ahly Ly
| 106 | |||||||||
| 6 | FUS Rabat
| 72 | 99 | 171 | 2 | Al Ahly
| 98 | |||||||||
Quarterfinals
Note: All times are in Central Africa Time.
(1) Petro de Luanda vs. (8) Dar City
Petro de Luanda won 165–157 on aggregate.
Game 1
| 23 May 2026 | Petro de Luanda |
82–88 | Dar City |
Kigali, Rwanda |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20:00 | Scoring by quarter: 26–22, 20–20, 22–16, 14–30 | |||
| Pts: Randle 18 Rebs: Gakou 9 Asts: Dundão 8 |
Boxscore | Pts: Utomi 22 Rebs: Mahmoud 12 Asts: Michineau 8 |
Arena: BK Arena Attendance: 3,201 Referees: Jafar Kinsey, Mbaye Seye, Asmae Benkhadra |
|
Game 2
| 25 May 2026 | Dar City |
69–83 | Petro de Luanda |
Kigali, Rwanda |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21:00 | Scoring by quarter: 16–26, 19–20, 17–22, 17–15 | |||
| Pts: Zouzoua 21 Rebs: Mahmoud 10 Asts: Mahmoud, Zouzoua 4 |
Boxscore | Pts: Randle 20 Rebs: Gakou 9 Asts: Dundão 11 |
Arena: BK Arena Attendance: 3,512 Referees: Ian McClenny, Kastine Evans, Aya Ahmed |
|
(4) Club Africain vs. (5) Al Ahly Ly
Al Ahly Ly won 186–167 on aggregate.
Game 1
| 23 May 2026 | Club Africain |
87–88 | Al Ahly Ly |
Kigali, Rwanda |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17:00 | Scoring by quarter: 15–28, 31–21, 19–20, 22–19 | |||
| Pts: Abada, Marnaoui 23 Rebs: Hagins 6 Asts: Abada 6 |
Boxscore | Pts: Deng 23 Rebs: Marei 14 Asts: Moore 8 |
Arena: BK Arena Attendance: 1,586 Referees: Kastine Evans, Amr Aboollo, Aya Ahmed |
|
Game 2
| 25 May 2026 | Al Ahly Ly |
98–80 | Club Africain |
Kigali, Rwanda |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18:00 | Scoring by quarter: 30–20, 20–24, 23–13, 25–23 | |||
| Pts: Williams 25 Rebs: Deng 11 Asts: Moore 13 |
Boxscore | Pts: Marnaoui 16 Rebs: Mohammed 7 Asts: Abada 7 |
Arena: BK Arena Attendance: 2,008 Referees: Gina Catanzariti, Arnold Moseya, Asmae Benkhadra |
|
(2) Al Ahly vs. (7) ASC Ville de Dakar
Al Ahly won 177–169 on aggregate.
Game 1
| 22 May 2026 | Al Ahly |
90–93 | ASC Ville de Dakar |
Kigali, Rwanda |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18:00 | Scoring by quarter: 29–25, 16–22, 22–22, 23–24 | |||
| Pts: Omot 23 Rebs: Amin, Murphy, Oraby 5 Asts: Lofton 6 |
Boxscore | Pts: Toupane 21 Rebs: Toupane 9 Asts: Toupane 7 |
Arena: BK Arena Attendance: 2,835 Referees: Gina Catanzariti, Arnold Moseya, Claudio Eiuba |
|
Game 2
| 24 May 2026 | ASC Ville de Dakar |
76–87 | Al Ahly |
Kigali, Rwanda |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17:00 | Scoring by quarter: 18–15, 16–13, 25–32, 17–27 | |||
| Pts: Toupane 16 Rebs: Majok 11 Asts: Toupane 7 |
Boxscore | Pts: Omot 24 Rebs: Murphy 8 Asts: Lofton 5 |
Arena: BK Arena Attendance: 2,802 Referees: Yann Vezo Davidson, Jean Sauveur Ruhamiriza, Imene Tahmi |
|
(3) RSSB Tigers vs. (6) FUS Rabat
RSSB Tigers won 193–171 on aggregate.
Game 1
| 22 May 2026 | RSSB Tigers |
95–72 | FUS Rabat |
Kigali, Rwanda |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21:00 | Scoring by quarter: 24–13, 21–23, 26–24, 24–12 | |||
| Pts: Randall II 38 Rebs: Mathiang 15 Asts: Jackson Jr 8 |
Boxscore | Pts: Iroegbu 14 Rebs: Kuany 9 Asts: El Haoua 8 |
Arena: BK Arena Attendance: 6,264 Referees: Ian McClenny, Oumar Sy, Imene Tahmi |
|
Game 2
Semifinals
(1) Petro de Luanda vs. (5) Al Ahly Ly
| 28 May 2026 | Petro de Luanda |
94–88 | Al Ahly Ly |
Kigali, Rwanda |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21:00 | Scoring by quarter: 23–24, 20–24, 22–22, 29–18 | |||
| Pts: Dundão 26 Rebs: Putney 6 Asts: Gonçalves 10 |
Boxscore | Pts: Williams 30 Rebs: Lual-Acuil 8 Asts: Deng 6 |
Arena: BK Arena Attendance: 5,103 Referees: Ian McClenny, Jean Sauveur Ruhamiriza, Amr Aboollo |
|
(2) Al Ahly vs. (3) RSSB Tigers
Third place game: (5) Al Ahly Ly vs. (2) Al Ahly
| 31 May 2026 | Al Ahly Ly |
106–98 | Al Ahly |
Kigali, Rwanda |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17:00 | Scoring by quarter: 25–23, 27–15, 25–35, 29–25 | |||
| Pts: Deng 28 Rebs: Sadi 11 Asts: Moore 12 |
Boxscore | Pts: I. Zahran 23 Rebs: Khalaf, Osifo 5 Asts: Murphy 6 |
Arena: BK Arena Attendance: 3,688 Referees: Jafar Kinsey, Jean Sauveur Ruhamiriza, Arnold Moseya |
|
Final: (1) Petro de Luanda vs. (3) RSSB Tigers
| 31 May 2026 | Petro de Luanda |
88–90 | RSSB Tigers |
Kigali, Rwanda |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20:00 | Scoring by quarter: 27–16, 10–26, 22–19, 29–29 | |||
| Pts: Gakou 28 Rebs: Gakou 12 Asts: Dundão 9 |
Boxscore | Pts: Randall II 33 Rebs: Mathiang 15 Asts: Habimana, Lenard 5 |
Arena: BK Arena Attendance: 6,629 Referees: Gina Catanzariti, Yann Vezo Davidson, Oumar Sy |
|
References
- ↑ "Understanding the 2026 BAL Playoffs Rankings and Brackets". The BAL. Retrieved 31 August 2026.
| Seasons | |
|---|---|
| Qualifying rounds | |
| Playoffs | |
| Teams | |
| Arenas | |
| Competition stages | |
| Awards | |
| Records and statistics | |
| Associated |
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