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And after beating Monastir in Season One with Zamalek, Diabate joined the Tunisian giants for Season Two.
Souleyman Diabate became the first player to win two Basketball Africa League titles last season.
The feat was completed in Season Two of the competition, when the Ivorian helped Tunisian side US Monastir to the title in Kigali, Rwanda.
Diabate had represented Zamalek in Season One and scored 12 points as the Egyptian side defeated beat Petro de Luanda in the semi-finals.
He then contributed 14 points to help the team beat US Monastir to clinch his first-ever BAL title.
And after beating Monastir in Season One, Diabate joined the Tunisian giants for Season Two.
He entered the BAL history books as the first player to win two BAL titles and with two different teams.
Monastir beat Petro de Luanda in the 2022 final.
As he had done after Season One, Diabate went on to join the losing finalists for the next season.
His new home is in Luanda, and he is now looking to help Petro land the title on their third attempt.
The Angolan side has been on an upward trajectory in the tournament, finishing third and second in Season One and Two, respectively.
12:04 - 28.04.2023
BAL One game down, can City Oilers make the Basketball Africa League playoffs?
Defeat against Al Ahly on Saturday would leave the Oilers needing to win the rest of the games back-to-back to get their campaign in order.
Since joining Petro, Diabate has helped the team win all there is in Angola, including the Angolan Super Cup, Angola Cup and the Angolan League (UNITEL Basket).
But the most important piece of silverware Petro are after is the BAL title, and Diabate’s experience and know-how are expected to lead the way.
Petro have won continental silverware before when the FIBA Africa Champions Cup was still a big deal, but the BAL is on another level altogether.
Diabate will line up alongside Ater Majok, with whom he won the BAL in Season Two, to guide the Angolan side to success.
The team started their Nile Conference journey with a commanding 89-71 win over debutants City Oilers of Uganda.
Diabate came off the bench to score nine points, pick three rebounds and dished out four assists.
Aboubacar Gakou played the leading role for Jose Neto’s charges, scoring a team-high 16 points in an 18-point win.
Petro and Al Ahly are two of the most highly regarded teams in the Nile Conference.
But whether that will be enough to send the team to Kigali for the playoffs, let alone the title, remains to be seen.
What is for sure is that Diabate will have to be in the thick of things for the Angolan side to finally land the title.
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