Club Africain edged North African powerhouse, Al Ahly, courtesy of a late shot by Oussama Marnaoui who hit a clutch three-pointer to give his side a one-point lead. Though debutants, Club Africain are now 2-0 and are playing like they belong here.
Last Updated on
April 27, 2026
The game got off to a slow start as both teams were still shaking off their nerves, but once settled, fans were treated to an end-to-end show. Omar Oraby opened the scoring for Al ahly with a dunk. It was not long until Zack Lofton found Oussama Marnaoui for a three-pointer for Club Africain. Thereafter, there was another stalemate period as neither team could lift the deadlock.
Jamelle Hagins hit a beautiful step-back mid-range jump shot to to tie the game at five points apiece. There was very little to separate the two teams before Zach Lofton stole the ball and assisted Ehab Saleh for a three-pointer to give Al Ahly a narrow three-point lead. Ehab Saleh made another mid-range jump shot that extended Al Ahly's lead to five. This prompted a Club Africain timeout.
The timeout proved useful as they returned to the game with a perfectly executed play that led to a three-pointer for Omar Abada. This shot was so good that Omar Abada did it again in the next possession to give his team a narrow one-point lead. From there, the two teams began trading baskets and Club Africain was caught a little late and committed a number of fouls that led Al Ahly to the charity stripe where John Jordan was flawless. This put Al Ahly in the lead, 18-17, at the end of the first quarter with Ehab Saleh leading all scorers with 10 points.
In the second quarter, Club Africain put themselves in a commanding position. It started when Aminu Mohammed made two free throws to give his team the lead again. He extended his team's lead when he followed this up with a turnaround jump shot. However, Al Ahly was not going to take this lying down - Moursi Khalaf tipped in a layup to keep them within range. Ehab Saleh even regained the lead for Al Ahly with a turnaround jump shot.
Omar Abada went on a 5-0 run to turn things around but Al Ahly was there at every turn and continued to keep the pressure on Club Africain, staying only two points behind with just under five minutes to go in the quarter. That is as close as they would stay in this quarter because Club Africain went on a13-4 run to close off the quarter at 40-29. Omar Abada erupted in this quarter with nine points and three assists. Al Ahly were in foul trouble and Club Africain capitalized on that, asserting their dominance in the game.
Ehab Saleh opened the third quarter with a three-pointer from a Zack Lofton assist. Jamelle Haggins then made three of his four free throws to cut the lead back to eight. However, Oussama Marnaoui was just feeling good from the perimeter as he drained back-to-back threes to take extend his team's lead back up to 13 points. Omar Abada followed this up with a floater to make it a 16-point game. John Jordan crashed the party and slowed down this Club Africain run when he hit a three for Al Ahly.
The two sides continued to trade blows but it was Al Ahly who was now in a good position as Club Africain got in the bonus. This allowed Al Ahly to close the gap and do so on the line. There was a sequence that got the fans of both sides to their feet as Drew Cisse had a put-back dunk for Club Africain before Kevin Murphy sank back-to-back threes for Al Ahly to cut it to an eight-point deficit and close the quarter at 56-48 in favor of Club Africain.
In the fourth quarter, Zack Lofton went from assisting others to assisting himself. He created space, blew by his defender and scored on the drive. He and Abada then exchanged baskets to keep the game at a six-point difference at 60-54, with Club Africain still in the lead. The wind turned in favor of Al Ahly's sails as they went on a 9-0 run to take a three-point lead. During this run, Osayi Osifo had a dunk and a mid-range jump shot to show the big man's versatility; while Ehab Saleh continued to show his sniper-like range with his sharp shooting from beyond the arc.
This run was disrupted by Oussama Marnaoui's free throw. Zack Lofton picked up the scoring again for Al Ahly as he scored on the drive. Kevin Murphy tried the same but he was fouled and converted both his free throws before splitting the pair on the next attempt. At this point, Al Ahly was up 68-61 with 1:26 on the clock. They could almost taste victory.
However, Club Africain fought back with intent, vigor and urgency. Omar Abada made a three pointer with 15 seconds left to make it a 68-64 game. Then Malek Abdelgowad of Al Ahly turned the ball over with an unsportsmanlike offensive foul on Zied Chennoufi who converted both freethrows and c made it 68-66 with 14 seconds on the game clock. Since they still had the ball, Club Africain spaced the court out and let Al Ahly's defense collapse on Omar Abada's drive as he kicked out to an open Oussama Marnaoui who found nothing but the bottom of the net from beyond the arc to give Club Africain a 69-68 lead with seven seconds left. With a last ditched effort, Kevin Murphy missed a floater and Club Africain won the game 69-68.
Club Africain maintain their perfect record in this campaign. Ehab Saleh's 18 and Kevin Murphy's 19 points were not enough to get them over the edge as Oussama Marnaoui's 17 points and 5 rebounds together with Omar Abada's 25 points, seven assists and 57% from three were enough to propel them past Al Ahly in this nail-biting encounter between two North African powerhouses.
[Photography and Imagery Courtesy of The BAL]
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