Petro's fifth win of the tournament confirms them as the Nile Conference champions with a 5-0 record.
The two best teams in the Basketball Africa League Nile Conference, Petro de Luanda and Al Ahly served arguably the best game of the regular season Friday evening.
And it all came down to an official review that confirmed Luckeny Goncalves' put-back had left his hand just in time to give the Angolan side a 91-90 win in their last regular season game.
Carlos Morais conducted a scoring clinic in the first three quarters but slowed down towards the end as the host team took the game to Petro.
Morais, who ended the game with 34 points, started the game with a hot hand and had 22 points going into the halftime break.
Petro led 26-18 at the end of the first quarter and, despite losing the second 26-24, carried a six-point advantage (50-44) going into the halftime break.
The two sides exchanged leads when Nuni Omot and Corey Webster got going for the host team. Petro's lead was sliced to just two points (71-69) at the end of the third quarter as Al Ahly rode on the massive home crowd to get into rhythm.
Omot and Michael Thompson led Ahly's 8-0 run to start the fourth frame on the front foot and rush into the lead.
Morais and Souleyman Diabate made big plays to keep Al Ahly within range.
Webster, Thompson and Omot kept the shots falling for the hosts down the stretch. Omot's pull-up jumper to give Ahly a 90-89 lead with 15 seconds came after Jone Pedro had missed three free throws.
The Egyptian champions needed one more stop to win the game but were left heartbroken when Goncalves beat the buzzer with a put-back to win the game for the Angolans.
Morais missed his three-point shot attempt, but Goncalves reacted fastest for an offensive rebound and put-back to win it.
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The shot required official review from the referees, who confirmed that the ball had left the player's hand by the time the buzzer went, sending Petro players into wild celebrations.
Omot and Webster ended the game with 25 and 22 points, respectively for Al Ahly who lost their first game of the conference.
Petro's fifth win of the tournament confirms them as the Nile Conference champions with a 5-0 record.
Basketball Africa League
Nile Conference
Friday result
Petro de Luanda 91-90 Al Ahly
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