Jeunesse Club d’Abidjan marked their Road to BAL debut with a thrilling 73–66 win over Ghana’s Spintex Knights. Ulrich Krato’s 19 points and six steals powered JCA’s historic victory before a jubilant Abidjan crowd at Palais des Sports.
Last Updated on
October 17, 2025
Group B hosts Jeunesse Club d'Abidjan registered their first-ever win in their debut game on the Road to the BAL stage. In front of their partisan crowd, JCA edged past Accra Basketball League champions Spintex Knights 73-66 inside the Palais des Sports de Treichville, Abidjan.
James Amotoe was the leading scorer on the night, unfortunately ended up on the losing side, posting 24 points, five assists and two rebounds. Still, the most effective player on the night for the Knights was Khyree Temple, who finished with 19 points and four rebounds.
The winning team had Ulrich Mohamed Krato to thank, as he posted 19 points and six steals amongst his many efforts to help his club to the victory. Babatunde Williams assisted him, as he finished with 13 points, a massive nine rebounds, and four assists.
Jeunesse Club d'Abidjan, whose roster boasts Basketball Africa League-level talents, such as Maxi Shamba and Brian Bridgeforth, proved to be a tough opponent for the Knights. JCA's star players helped get their team's initial points on board as early as the first minute after tip-off, with Khyree Malik Temple driving into the paint and finishing up with a layup.
A quick response followed with the experienced Maxi Shamba scoring from behind the arc to give the lead to the home side. Knights' James Amotoe scored from inside the paint to restore the Ghana-based club's lead and followed that up with a point made from the charity line.
A couple of free throws from Maxi Shamba and Brian Bridgeforth turned the game around for the home side again as they went on a 15-0 scoring run that saw them build a 13-point lead, and that was how they closed out with a score of 23-10 in the opening quarter.
With the game slipping away gradually from the Knights, they tried to stay close in the second quarter and did put up a decent fight as an 8-0 scoring run couldn't get them very close into the game as they met a very strong resistance from the very effective JCA side. Only six points could separate the two sides at the end of the second quarter, but JCA went into the halftime break leading by 19 points.
The second half saw a charged-up team display by the Knights as they went on a 7-0 scoring run before JCA managed to get on the board. Temple was on hand to carry the Knights in the third quarter as the home side was limited to just 11 points in the quarter against the Knights' 20.
The penultimate quarter saw the home team struggle to hold on to their ten-point lead as the period got underway. Benjamin Mensah finished up a move from fastbreak after forcing a turnover by the home side to reduce the points difference to eight points before Maxi Shamba finished off a floating shot to restore a 10-point lead.
But the game witnessed a lot of missed opportunities, defensive rebounds and turnovers. With four minutes left on the clock, James Amotoe ensured a nervy ending for the home side as he dropped a three-pointer to reduce the points difference to seven points, leaving the home side doing all they could to hold on to the lead. In the final moments of the game, Babatunde Williams scored two points with 44 seconds left on the clock. Abakar Oumar responded for the Knights before Brian made a dunk to close out the points for the home side.
James Amotoe rounded off the scoring as the game closed with JCA winning by seven points. The JCA had done what was needed in the first half as they dominated points in the paint, scoring a massive 46, while the Knights' late rally in the game only saw them register 32 points in the paint despite edging the final two quarters. In the end, it wasn't enough to topple the points garnered by the home team.
At the end of the game, JCA capitalised on points off turnovers, registering 27 as against the Knights' 17. They also made more points from the fast break (22) and were also quick to the second chance points, as against the Knights, who could only manage to post 17 points.
[Photography Courtesy of FIBA/Road to BAL]
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