SUN REPORTER Sun Sport.

The state of the art, UB Arena was once more on show as Botswana Basketball Association (BBA) demonstrated its capacity to deliver top level continental competitions by delivering the Basketball Africa League (BAL) qualifier games last weekend.

The three-day tournament, Road to BAL 2024 qualifiers, brought together crème de la crème of hoops in the Southern Africa region, as they battled it out for a slot in the Africa Elite 16 with the African champions to be determined next year.

Local league champions, Dolphins Basketball Club had their best finish on the last day of the event, beating UNAM Wolves 75-43 in the final game but could not proceed to the Elite 16 round. A game-high 18 points by Thuto Gaborone and team captain Kesaobaka Ndawanyana’s 14 points led the Dolphins to a second-place finish in the group. The Road to BAL qualifiers saw Zimbabwean club JBC make history by becoming the first team from their country to qualify for the Elite 16 Division East. JBC stormed past a flat Munali Suns 87-50 in the must-win encounter as the Zimbabwean champions got off to a hot start and were blazing throughout the game, while the Suns, Zambia, who initially looked like favorites to take the group, wilted. When reflecting on what was a thrilling action inside the UB Indoor Arena, technical director of Botswana Basketball Association, Shalosh Matsetse said they are content with how the tournament went, adding that it will catalyze the development of the local game. “It was a milestone for BBA, not only for Dolphins players to be exposed to that level of competition, but the games have also increased the interest around the game, which is a positive for the local game, so we are really grateful to have successfully hosted,” Shalosh Matsetse told He said hosting the games did not come without challenges but emphasized that it has been a valuable learning curve. “It was a bit of a challenge for the association and Dolphins too, to host the regional competition. We only have one venue that meets the FIBA international standards to host the games—the set dates for competition saw the venue booked for other activities so it was a serious challenge. For Dolphins, we [Botswana Basketball League] are on the off season so it was a challenge for them in terms of match-fitness,” Matsetse added.He further advised local clubs to explore opportunities to travel outside the country and get international friendly games which will give them the much-needed experience going into the regional qualifiers of the BAL. “BAL’s partnership with FIBA has elevated the standard of competition in the continent, most of the teams who competed in the just ended tournament attracted a lot of interest, some of their players who are based in America turned up for the games because they know the games were a good platform to be seen by international scouts,” he highlighted.

Sponsorship has been a serious challenge facing the association and the Road to BAL 2024 presented a good opportunity for the BBA to present a strong proposal to the local businesses and build partnerships. “We invited potential sponsors to come and appreciate the games, some didn’t even know that the local game is at the level which was witnessed this past week, so we are hopeful that we will get somewhere regarding sponsorship issues. We have also proposed to host the qualifiers again next year because now we have the experience of hosting, I believe we will do a much better job,” the BBA technical director revealed. After the games on Monday, a draw for the Elite 16 was done where the 16 teams were divided into four groups of four and will compete for the six places available for the fourth edition of the BAL.