Rwandan small forward Dieudonné Ndizeye on Monday, December 2, delivered a stellar performance that helped Cape Verdean side Kriol Star to qualify for the 2025 Basketball Africa League (BAL).
Ndizeye scored 21 points for Kriol Star who beat Burundi's Urunani 90-82 in the semifinals of the elite stage of the qualifiers, to book a ticket to the continent's premier club basketball showpiece.
The Cape Verdeans were making their debut to the Road to BAL and made it to the East Division Elite 16 on a wild card, having lost their two matches in the Group Phase held in Libya in October.
Urunani's Landry Ndikumana got action underway for the Burundians with two quick baskets to lead 4-0 before Joel Almeida came up for a trey to open the floor for Kriol Star.
Urunani led 12-7 halfway the opening quarter, but Ndizeye and his American teammate Patrick McGlynn drew the Islanders level at 12 with two minutes to play.
Three costly turnovers for Kriol, however, saw Urunani lead 18-12 at the end of the opening period.
Urunani's biggest lead, so far, came in the opening two minutes of the clash, Mohamed Doumbya's hot hands and Ndikumana's trey making it 23-13.
Hugo Da Silva's men brought it back to six at 26-19 and again at 29-24 but the opponent, yet again, pulled away to take the difference to double digits at 35-24 as the half ended 37-28.
ALSO READ: Ndizeye joins Cape Verde side Kriol Star ahead of BAL qualifiers
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Six trebles in the opening four minutes of the third quarter for Kriol, four off McGlynn and one apiece for Ndizeye and Almeida saw the Islanders assume a 39-38 lead, stretching it further to 50-42 halfway through the stanza. Urunani went on a run of their own, with Jean-Jacques Boissy scoring seven to see the East Africans tie the match at 55.
The Burundian champions led 68-63 but Kriol came right back to tie the match and lead 78-70, before Boissy shot from range to bring his side to within four, but their comeback was never to be as they went on to lose.
Patrick McGlynn led the charge for Kriol Star, scoring 35, the second best in this year's Road to BAL. He dropped 7-of- 12 from range to rescue Kriol in the second half as his side went 32-20 in the third.
A Road to BAL record of 15 treys for Kriol takes the cake in this encounter's statistics. Granted Urunani shot 9-of-29, it was not enough to stop McGlynn and his troops.
Meanwhile, Kenyan side, Nairobi City has qualified for BAL, achieving the feat on debut in the Road to BAL.
In front of an electric crowd at the 5,000-seater Kasarani Indoor Arena, home side Nairobi City Thunder survived a late rally by Uganda's City Oilers to win 72-62 and book the latest ticket from the East Division Elite 16 to BAL 2025.
