Rwanda’s RSSB Tigers were crowned 2026 Basketball Africa League (BAL) champions on Sunday, completing a fairy-tale debut campaign with a 90-88 win over Angola’s Petro de Luanda before a packed BK Arena in Kigali. The result made the Tigers the first Rwandan club to lift the continental crown and capped a playoff fortnight that ran from 22 to 31 May.
All eight qualifiers gathered at the BK Arena, where the format pitted them through a two-game aggregate quarter-final round, single-game semi-finals, a third-place game, and the final. What followed was one of the most dramatic Kigali finals weeks in the competition’s six-year history.
Quarter-finals: aggregate drama
The quarter-finals were decided by aggregate score across two legs. The hosts announced themselves emphatically, hammering Morocco’s FUS Rabat 95-72 in the first leg. Although they lost a tight second leg 99-98, their cushion was more than enough to carry them through to the last four.
Egypt’s Al Ahly recovered from a narrow 93-90 first-leg loss to ASC Ville de Dakar of Senegal, responding with an 87-76 win to advance. Libya’s Al Ahly Ly edged Tunisia’s Club Africain, overturning a slender first-leg deficit with a commanding 98-80 victory, with Charles Moore and Ahmed Deu Elngharbi scoring 23 points apiece. Petro de Luanda, beaten 88-82 by Tanzania’s Dar City in the opening leg, produced a ruthless second-half display to win the return 83-69 and progress.
Semi-finals: hosts shock the champions
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The single-game semi-finals delivered the tournament’s defining upset. On Wednesday 27 May, the debutant Tigers overpowered the 2023 champions Al Ahly 106-97, roared on by a home crowd that included Rwandan President Paul Kagame. Craig Randall II posted 30 points and five assists, while Oumar Ballo dominated the boards to earn man-of-the-match honours.
A day later, Petro de Luanda came from behind to beat Al Ahly Ly 94-88 in a rematch of the 2024 final. The Libyans led for most of the contest, but Petro surged in the fourth quarter, with Childe Dundao scoring 26 points off the bench and Gerson Goncalves contributing 23 points and 10 assists. It was the third time in BAL history that Petro had eliminated Al Ahly Ly, and it sent the Angolans to a third successive final.
Third-place game
In Sunday’s consolation match, Al Ahly Ly defeated Egypt’s Al Ahly 106-98 to claim the bronze medal, recovering from their semi-final disappointment to round off the playoffs in third place.
The final: a 20-point comeback
The championship game began disastrously for the hosts. Petro de Luanda controlled the opening quarter behind guard Aboubacar Gakou, building a lead that swelled to as many as 20 points and threatening to run away with the title. The turning point came in the second quarter, when Randall, who had missed his first four attempts, found his range and knocked down consecutive three-pointers to spark the recovery.
When Randall struck again to give the Tigers their first lead at 37-35, the arena erupted, and the home side went into the interval ahead 42-37. Petro were undone by 13 turnovers and foul trouble, with Gakou eventually fouling out late in the fourth. Randall finished with a game-high 33 points despite a tough shooting night, while Gakou top-scored for Petro with 28.
With the title secured, the RSSB Tigers earned the right to represent Africa at the next edition of the FIBA Intercontinental Cup in Singapore in September, closing a debut season that has reshaped the map of African club basketball.
