The 2020 BAL Qualifying Tournaments were the inaugural qualifying tournaments of the Basketball Africa League (BAL), the newly launched premier basketball league of Africa jointly organized by the NBA and FIBA. While the NBA will co-organise from the regular season, the qualifiers are completely organised by FIBA Africa.
A total of 31 teams from 31 countries participate in the qualifying tournaments in order to determine which six teams will play in the 2020 BAL regular season, along with six directly placed six teams. The qualifying tournaments are divided into the First round and Second round, which run from 16 October until 21 December 2019.
Team allocation A total of 31 teams from 31 countries played in the qualifying tournaments. League positions after eventual playoffs of the previous season shown in parentheses. On 9 October 2019, the official list of participating teams in the qualifying rounds was announced by FIBA. First roundWest DivisionEast Division GS Pétroliers (1st) Al-Nasr (1st) Patriots (1st) Hawassa City (1st) ABC (1st) ASPAC (1st) Dynamo (1st) Cobra Sport NPA Pythons (1st) FAP (2nd) Mercenaries (1st) UNZA Pacers (1st) Mazembe (1st) Virgen María de África KPA (1st) GNBC (1st) Braves of Customs (1st) Nigelec (1st) Usoni (1st) Dolphins (1st) SLAC (1st) AS Police (1st) City Oilers (1st) JKT (1st) Manga (1st) Abeilles (1st) Ferroviário de Maputo (1st) Jozi Nuggets (1st) Lions (1st) Beau Vallon Heat (1st) Brave Hearts (1st) Notes
First round
In the first round, thirtytwo teams participate in six groups divided over two geographical divisions (West and East). Groups were selected by geographical criteria. The winners and runners-up of each group qualify for the second round while four other teams were invited with wild cards, chosen by FIBA.
The first games were played at 15 October and the last on 3 November 2019.
West Division
Group A Venue: Bamako, Mali
Group B Venue: Cotonou, Benin
Group C Venue: Libreville, Gabon
Division West
Group D Venue: Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
16 October 2019 City Oilers 71–57 Dynamo JKT 87–47 Hawassa City17 October 2019 Dynamo 64–73 Patriots Hawassa City 49–100 City Oilers18 October 2019 City Oilers 85–54 JKT Patriots 125–50 Hawassa City19 October 2019 Hawassa City 43–90 Dynamo Patriots 79–65 JKT20 October 2019 Patriots 74–63 City Oilers Dynamo 68–88 JKT
Group E Venue: Johannesburg, South Africa
Group F Venue: Antananarivo, Madagascar
Second round In the Second Round (also referred to as "Elite 16" by FIBA), the sixteen teams that advanced from the first round teams play in four groups of four, divided over two geographical divisions. The top two teams of each group advance to the semi-finals. Winners of each semi-finals qualify for the regular season while the losers play in a third place game for the final regular season spot. On 7 November, FIBA announced the four wild card receivers.
The Division West tournament will be played at the Kigali Arena in the Rwandan city of Kigali. The Division East tournament is played in the Multipurpose Sports Complex in Yaoundé, Cameroon. The Elite 16 will start on 26 November and end 22 December 2019.
Qualified teams The draw was held on 21 November in Abidjan.
DivisionGroupWinnersRunners-upWild cards WestA Police GS Pétroliers Al NaserB ABC NigelecC FAP Manga ASB Mazembe EastD Patriots City Oilers JKTE Ferroviário de Maputo UNZA PacersF KPA GNBC Cobra
West Division – Group G
Group A
Group B
Final round Qualification finals
Semi-finals
Third place game
Final
East Division – Group H
Group A
Group B
Final round ;Qualification finals
Semi-finals
Third place game
Final
Statistical leaders As retrieved from FIBA.
Individual statistics leaders Category Player Team StatisticEfficiency per game Álvaro Calvo Masa Ferroviário de Maputo 23.6Points per game Baraka Athumani JKT 25.3Rebounds per game Michael Mukumbutaa Lions Club 14.8Assists per game Kenny Gasana Patriots 5.1Steals per game Ibrahima Haidara AS Police 3.4Blocks per game Ibrahima Haidara AS Police 2.6Turnovers per game Ofentse Barrows Dolphins 5.4Minutes per game Joe Sinala Banda Lions Club 38.8 FG% Okall Oranga KPA 58.3% 3P% Kennedy Wachira KPA 50.0%
Individual game highs Category Player Team Statistic Points Braka Athumani JKT 45 Rebounds Michael Mukumbutaa Lions 26 Assists Stephano Mshana JKT 12 Steals Abdoulaye Harouna Nigelec 9 Blocks Pitchou Kambuy Manga ASB Mazembe 5 Three pointers Timothy Kwaor Nigelec 9
Notes
References