APR BBC shines as Rwanda hosts BAL Nile Conference for the first time
Rwanda's APR Basketball Club (APR BBC) made a strong statement with their first game at the Basketball Africa League (BAL) Nile Conference, thrashing Kenya's Nairobi City Thunder (NCT) 92 Vs 63 at BK Arena on Saturday evening.

This match was unique in that it was the inaugural time that the conference phase of the BAL was being hosted in Rwanda, bringing top-level African basketball action to the heart of Kigali.
APR's Aliou Diarra was the toast of the night with 21 points, 12 rebounds, 6 blocks, 4 assists, and 2 steals, showing his all-around brilliance to the locals. The game started close, with both teams engaging in a toe-to-toe battle and NCT holding a slim 23-22 lead at the first quarter. APR picked up pace in the second quarter via collective effort and good playmaking by Dane Miller Jr. The Rwandan team moved into halftime leading 39-31, despite NCT's Tylor Ongwae being the top scorer then. After the break, APR came back even stronger. Diarra, Youssoupha Ndoye, and Chasson Randle combined well to stretch the lead. NCT fought back briefly in the third quarter, but APR stayed in control and pulled away in the fourth quarter to seal the dominant win.
“This loss is tough, but we’ll regroup and come back stronger,” said NCT captain Tylor Ongwae after the game.
Earlier today, Libya's Al Ahli Tripoli beat South Africa's Made in Africa Basketball Club (MBB) 87-77 in a grueling match. But the APR-NCT game's passion and intensity, with the home Rwandan fans cheering them on, was something else.
The 2025 BAL Nile Conference will take place in Kigali from May 17 to 25, with four teams: APR (Rwanda), Al Ahli Tripoli (Libya), MBB (South Africa), and NCT (Kenya). All three of them, except APR, are featuring for the first time in BAL.
BAL President Amadou Gallo Fall, speaking at a press conference, praised Kigali for hosting the event: “We’re proud to bring a BAL conference to Kigali for the first time. This shows the growth of basketball in Rwanda and across Africa.”
Fall also emphasized the league’s focus on African talent: “BAL is not just a competition, it’s a platform to develop African players and give them international exposure.”
APR will return to action on Sunday, 18 May evening against MBB at 5:30 PM, while NCT will face Al Ahli Tripoli earlier in the day at 2:30 PM. The four teams are vying for a BAL playoffs berth, which will be held in June in Pretoria, South Africa, where the 2025 champion will be crowned.