Johannesburg Giants and Nairobi City Thunder qualified for the 2026 Basketball Africa League season after beating Dar City and Ferroviario da Beira, respectively, on Saturday.
The South African champions shocked star-studded Dar City 71-69 in the Division East Elite 16 tournament semifinals to secure their place in next year’s BAL season.
Nino Dim was the star of the show for the Giants with a team-high 21 points, nine rebounds, four assists and two steals. Dim hit two clutch 3-pointers in the decisive fourth quarter.
Dhieu Deing (16 points) and Joshua Ozabor (14 points and 10 rebounds) came in handy, scoring in double digits for the Giants.
Pieter Prinsloo and Sandile Sibanyoni cleaned the glass, pulling down 14 and 10 rebounds respectively in a game Johannesburg outrebounded Dar City, 51–43.
“I am really happy that we made it to BAL. We played a great team with players that we look up to and while no one gave us a chance, deep down we knew we had what it takes.
“We dug ourselves in early but we managed to get a couple of stops, having switched to a 2-3 defense. We took care of their perimeter shooters, a game plan that worked as we fought for the win,” said Johannesburg Giants’ head coach Florsheim Ngwenya.
Meanwhile, hosts Nairobi City Thunder crushed Mozambique’s Ferroviario da Beira 109–70 to return to the BAL for a second consecutive season.
Shooting guard Albert Odero led the two-time Kenyan champions with a game-high 32 points, 26 of which came in the first half.
The Thunder, who were hot from downtown, took a 20-point lead (52–32) into the halftime break, and there was no way back for Beira, whose transition defense was poor throughout the game.
“When we started this Elite 16 journey, we had the message of unfinished business in BAL since we didn’t play so well last year and it was our mission to get back and represent ourselves better.
“We are happy to get the ticket but this is just the first step for us. We have been working hard for this since June of last year, through the league and in camp the last five weeks, and it feels satisfying to be here,” said Nairobi City Thunder head coach Bradley Ibs.
The two sides faced off in the tournament finals on Sunday, with Nairobi City beating Johannesburg Giants 94-84.