2018–19 Africa Basketball League

The 2018–19 Africa Basketball League or Africa League was the 33nd edition of FIBA Africa's premier club Basketball tournament and the first under the new format and name of Africa Basketball League. The season saw an expansion from twelve to sixteen teams.

Africa Basketball League
Season2018–19
Teams42 (Qualifying tournament)
16 (Group stage)
Games played24 (Group stage)
12 (Knockout phase)
DatesSeptember 2018 – April 2019
Final positions
Champions Primeiro de Agosto (9th title)
Runners-up AS Salé
Third place Smouha SC
Fourth place JS Kairouan
Awards
MVP Eduardo Mingas
Statistical leaders
Efficiency Maodo Nguirane 21.7
Points Reginald Holmes 20.2
Rebounds Todd O'Brien 12.0
Assists Ahmed Dhif 5.7
← 2017

After this season, the competition was replaced by the Basketball Africa League (BAL), which will start in March 2020.

Competition format

FIBA Africa has increased the number of participating teams from twelve to sixteen.[1] These teams get their ticket for the Africa Basketball League through regional qualifiers (Zone 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 of FIBA Africa).

The qualifiers for the Africa Basketball League Group stage was held from September and until mid-December 2018, while the final phase will take place from January 11 to April 21, 2019, in various African cities.

Group stage

The 16 teams qualified for the round of 16 will be divided into 4 groups of 4 teams each and the competition will take place in the form of a championship where each team will face respectively the 3 opponents of his group.

Elite 8

Then, the first two clubs in each group will qualify for the Elite 8 where the clubs will be divided into four groups of two teams each and then games will be played in a home and away format.[2]

At this stage, the competition will be played in a one-way match against the principle of direct elimination.

Final four

The Four winners will advance to the Final 4, that will be played on April 20 while the final take place the next day.

Qualification tournament
ZoneQualified teamsEliminated teams
Zone 1
Zone 2 SLAC
  • MBC
  • USFAS Bamako
Zone 3
Zone 4
  • CAS 1987 Le Phoenix
  • San Antonio
  • Jet 7 CB
Zone 5 Al Ahly, Smouha, REG
Zone 6 Ferroviário da Beira, Primeiro de Agosto, Petro Luanda
Zone 7 COSPN

Teams

A total of 16 teams from 10 countries will contest the league.

Venues and locations
Location of teams in 2018–19 FIBA AfroLeague
Team Home city Arena Capacity
ES Radès Tunis Salle Taoufik-Bouhima 3,500
AS Salé Salé Salle El Bouâzzaoui 2,000
JS Kairouan Kairouan Salle Aziz Miled 2,000
SLAC Conakry
Rivers Hoopers Port Harcourt Rivers State Basketball Complex 2,000
Civil Defenders Abuja Abuja Sports Hall 3,000
Elan Sportif Porto-Novo
BC Terreur Kinshasha Martyrs Sports Complex 2,000
ASB Mazembe Lubumbashi
Al Ahly Cairo Al Ahly Sports Hall 3,500
Smouha Alexandria Ittihad Sports Arena 2,000
Ferroviário da Beira Beira
Primeiro de Agosto Luanda Pavilhão Victorino Cunha 1,500
Petro de Luanda Luanda Pavilhão da Cidadela 6,873
COSPN Antananarivo Palais des Sports Mahamasina 7,090
REG Kigali Amahoro Indoor Stadium

Group stage

The draw was held in Abidjan on 12 January 2019.[3]

The two teams with the best records for each group qualified to Elite 8.[4]

Group A
Pos Team Pld W L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 AS Salé (H) 3 3 0 272 222 +50 6 Advance to Elite 8
2 JS Kairouan 3 2 1 241 212 +29 5
3 Rivers Hoopers 3 1 2 205 254 −49 4
4 SLAC 3 0 3 233 263 −30 3
Source: FIBA
(H) Host.

Group B
Pos Team Pld W L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 ES Radès 3 3 0 236 187 +49 6 Advance to Elite 8
2 Civil Defenders 3 2 1 209 213 −4 5
3 Élan Sportif (H) 3 1 2 193 207 −14 4
4 Terreur 3 0 3 185 216 −31 3
Source: FIBA
(H) Host.

Group C
Main article: 2018–19 Africa Basketball League Group C
Pos Team Pld W L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Primeiro de Agosto 3 3 0 243 196 +47 6 Advance to Elite 8
2 Al Ahly (H) 3 2 1 241 239 +2 5
3 REG 3 1 2 226 225 +1 4
4 Ferroviário da Beira 3 0 3 209 259 −50 3
Source: FIBA
(H) Host.

Group D
Pos Team Pld W L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Smouha 3 3 0 276 177 +99 6 Advance to Elite 8
2 Petro de Luanda 3 2 1 235 216 +19 5
3 ASB Mazembe 3 1 2 220 222 −2 4
4 COSPN (H) 3 0 3 196 312 −116 3
Source: FIBA
(H) Host.

Knockout phase

Bracket
 
Elite 8
Final fourFinal
 
                
 
 
 
 
 AS Salé 69 96 165
 
 
 
 Civil Defenders 69 77 146
 
 AS Salé 81
 
 
 
 JS Kairouan 73
 
 ES Radès 67 73 140
 
 
 
 JS Kairouan 68 74 142
 
 AS Salé 71
 
 
 
 Primeiro de Agosto 83
 
 Primeiro de Agosto 70 74144
 
 
 
 Petro 57 57 114
 
 Primeiro de Agosto 86
 
 
 
 Smouha 76Third place
 
 Al Ahly 82 88170
 
 
 
 Smouha 91 88 179
 
 JS Kairouan 58
 
 
 Smouha 69
 

Elite 8

The Elite 8 games will be played in a home and away basis from March 22–April 14, 2019.[5]

Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Civil Defenders 146–165 AS Salé 69–69 77–96
JS Kairouan 142–140 ES Radès 68–67 74–73
Petro de Luanda 114–144 Primeiro de Agosto 57–70 57–74
Smouha 179–163 Al Ahly 91–82 88–81

Final Four

On 19 April 2019, the Kimbala Arena in Luanda, Angola was announced as host of the Final Four.[6] The draw was held on 27 April 2019 in Abidjan.[7]

References
  1. Découvrez l’Afroleague, la nouvelle compétition de clubs de FIBA Afrique
  2. Zone 3 champions Rivers Hoopers Basketball Club will know their opponents for the 2019 FIBA AfroLeague later in December
  3. Draw Results FIBA Basketball
  4. "FIBA Africa Basketball League has arrived! Everything you need to know about this week's Group C games". fiba.basketball. 7 Feb 2019. Retrieved 12 Feb 2019.
  5. Elite 8 pairings set following conclusion of Group Phase fiba.basketball. 11 Mar 2019. Retrieved 13 Mar 2019.
  6. "Luanda named as hosts of FIBA Africa Basketball League 2019 FINAL FOUR". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
  7. "Final Four pairings confirmed". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
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