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The Nigerian champions are one of five teams making their debut in the elite basketball competition tipping off for the 2023 season on March 11 in Dakar, Senegal.
Nigeria basketball champions Kwara Falcons have been handed a tough group at the Basketball Africa League, BAL.
Kwara Falcons will go head-to-head with defending champions Union Sportive Monastirienne, US Monastir, from Tunisia.
This much Pulse Sports Nigeria can confirm after the BAL announced the teams, conferences and schedule on Monday afternoon.
"We are excited to announce the 12 qualified teams for the BAL Season 3," the Basketball Africa League said in a tweet on its official social media account.
The BAL revealed the top 12 club teams from 12 African countries that will compete in the 2023 season, with defending champions US Monastir leading the pack in the competition that will feature a total of 38 games in Dakar; Cairo, Egypt and Kigali, Rwanda over three months.
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US Monastir, the current champions, and five other teams returning from the 2022 season will be joined by five teams making their debut in the BAL for the first time.
The teams
Playing in the elite league for their first time are including the first BAL Abidjan Basket Club (Côte d’Ivoire), Al Ahly (Egypt), City Oilers (Uganda), Kwara Falcons (Nigeria) and Stade Malien (Mali).
Making their return are AS Douanes (Senegal), returning to the BAL after participating in the inaugural season in 2021.
The Groups
The teams will be divided into two conferences – the Sahara Conference and the Nile Conference, with each conference to play a 15-game group phase during which each team will face the other five teams in its conference once.
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Nigeria's Kwara Falcons will compete in the Sahara Conference’s group phase alonsgide the defending champions, with the matches taking place at the Dakar Arena from March 11-21.
Falcons will start their campaign against the Rwanda Energy Group, REG, on March 12th before taking on Stade Malien and US Monastir on the 14th and 15th respectively.
For the Nile Conference’s group phase, led by Ah Ahly, the matches will take place at Hassan Mostafa Indoor Sports Complex in Cairo from April 26 - May 6.
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The top four teams from each conference will qualify for the BAL Playoffs and Finals, which will feature a single-elimination tournament at BK Arena in Kigali from May 21-27.
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