BAL: KPA to know Elite 16 group opponents on Thursday

Defending Kenya Basketball Federation champions Kenya Ports Authority will get to know their group opponents when the Elite 16 draw takes place on Thursday.

The draw for the Elite 16 round of the Road to BAL 2023 will be held on Thursday 3 November at the FIBA Africa offices in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. The draw will start at 6pm Kenyan time.

KPA, alongside seven teams from seven different countries, made the cut into the Elite 16 round following the initial group stage qualifiers held in Dar es Salaam, Yaounde, Antananarivo and Niamey late last month.

The seven other group stage qualifiers include COSPN (Madagascar), Bangui Sporting Club (Central African Republic), Abidjan Basket Club (Ivory Coast), Urunani (Burundi), Nueva Era (Equatorial Guinea), City Oilers (Uganda) and Stade Malien Bamako (Mali).

Joining the eight in what will be the last hurdle towards making an appearance in the 3rd edition of the Basketball Africa League, will be seven teams that participated in the 2022 BAL early this year plus a single wildcard side.

The eight teams will constitute of Forces Armes et Police (Cameroon), Ferroviario de Beira (Mozambique), Cape Town Tigers (South Africa), Association Sportive Sale (Morocco), Seydou Legacy Athletique Club (Guinea) and Cobra Sport of South Sudan (TBC).

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Format

The 16 teams will be placed in two groups of eight (Group E and F), where the top three sides from each group will go through to the BAL finals. The games are scheduled to take place in Abidjan and Johannesburg this November.

KPA went 1 of 2 in the Group D West Division qualifiers, blowing out Djabal Basket Iconi of Comoros Islands 120-37 before falling second best to group winners COSPN 66-60 in the final game.

It will not be unfamiliar territory for KPA in the Elite 16, having failed to make it through the second round of the inaugural BAL qualifiers in 2019 due to logistical concerns.