The lead was further cut to four by the South African side midway through the fourth quarter, but Kelvin Amayo and Aliou Diarra gave Malien the much-needed offence down the stretch to win the game 78-69.
Stade Malien became the first team to book a slot in this year’s Basketball Africa League semi-finals in Kigali, Rwanda, on Saturday.
The Malian side defeated Cape Town Tigers in the first quarter-final played at the BK Arena Saturday evening.
Kaba Kante’s charges started the game on the front foot and raced to a 16-point lead (31-15) after the first quarter.
Malien took a tightly-contested second quarter 17-15 to lead by 18 points (48-30) going into the halftime break.
Cape Town ensured they made the tie a contest in the second half, starting with a 22-16 third frame to cut the deficit to 12 (64-52) going into the final quarter.
The lead was further cut to four by the South African side midway through the fourth quarter, but Kelvin Amayo and Aliou Diarra gave Malien the much-needed offence down the stretch to win the game 78-69.
Diarra and John Wilkins led Malien with 18 points apiece, the former adding 13 rebounds for a double-double performance.
Tigers’ captain Pieter Prinsloo scored a game-high 19 points and added 10 rebounds, but that was not sufficient as his side bowed out of the competition.
Samkelo Cele and Marvin Smith Jr. added 18 and 17 points, respectively for Rasheed Abdulrahman’s charges.
Cape Town finished fourth in the Nile Conference, while Malien got into the playoffs as the Sahara Conference champions.
Basketball Africa League
Quarter-final result
Stade Malien 78-69 Cape Town Tigers
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