2024–25 MBB Basketball season

The 2024–25 MBB Basketball season was the debut season of MBB Basketball in the Basketball Africa League (BAL), as it received a wild card for the competition.

Having won the BSA-organised National Championship title, the team was eligible for the 2025 BAL qualification,[1] where they will make their debut in the Elite 16 phase, becoming the third South African team in the Road to BAL, behind the Jozi Nuggets and the Cape Town Tigers.[2]

On January 12, 2025, MBB announced on Instagram that they would play in the 2025 season of the Basketball Africa League (BAL).[3] On February 4, 2025, MBB announced Sam Vincent as their new head coach.[4] Their participation was confirmed on 28 February 2025.[5] On May 20, 2025, MBB won its first-ever BAL game, defeating Nairobi City Thunder.[6] MBB was eliminated in the final round as they finished with a 3–3 record and did not have a high enough point differential to secure a wild card as third placed team.

Roster

BAL roster

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationalities not displayed.

2025 MBB roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Ht. Age
PG 1 Pfachi, Dyvonne (I) 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in) 30 – (1995-02-09)9 February 1995
CG 2 Dim, Nino 1.97 m (6 ft 6 in) 24 – (2000-11-06)6 November 2000
SG 5 Opong, Robinson (I) 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) 36 – (1989-05-10)10 May 1989
SF 6 Lenard, Teafale (I) 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 22 – (2002-07-21)21 July 2002
G/F 10 Selepe, Lebesa 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) 34 – (1991-03-13)13 March 1991
SF 12 Mothiba, Neo 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) 43 – (1982-03-21)21 March 1982
F 13 Thielemans, Omar (I) 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 25 – (1999-09-23)23 September 1999
PF/C 14 Sibanyoni, Nkosinathi 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) 27 – (1998-05-24)24 May 1998
SF 15 Camara, Mouhamed (E) 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) 20 – (2005-04-01)1 April 2005
C 23 Mokwena, Marcus 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 33 – (1991-12-04)4 December 1991
PF 41 Prinsloo, Pieter 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) 33 – (1992-01-07)7 January 1992
PG 45 Mooring, Jovan (I) 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) 30 – (1994-12-14)14 December 1994
C 50 Craig, David 2.18 m (7 ft 2 in) 21 – (2003-07-13)13 July 2003
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (I) Import player
  • Injured
Updated: May 21, 2025

Competitions

Road to BAL

Main article: 2025 BAL qualification


  Win   Loss   Fixtures

Elite 16

28 November 2024
1
 MBB 59–102 Nairobi City Thunder Nairobi, Kenya
20:00 Scoring by quarter: 19–17, 18–31, 17–22, 5–32
Pts: Mothiba 14
Rebs: Mokwena 12
Asts: Pfachi 6 		Boxscore Pts: Harouna 18
Rebs: Koranga 8
Asts: Iroegbu 7 		Arena: Kasarani Indoor Arena
Attendance: 2,000
Referees: Michel Djeugoue (CMR), Amr Zahed (EGY), Shabani Shabani (TAN)
29 November 2024
2
 Bravehearts 61–90 MBB Nairobi, Kenya
18:30 Scoring by quarter: 22–24, 17–20, 9–28, 13–18
Pts: Banda, Lele 10
Rebs: Banda 12
Asts: Limbe 3 		Pts: Pfachi 32
Rebs: Mothiba 10
Asts: Pfachi 6 		Arena: Kasarani Indoor Arena
Attendance: 200
Referees: Didier Gaga (RWA), Michel Djeugoue (CMR), David João Domingos (ANG)
30 November 2024
3
 MBB 58–63 Kriol Star Nairobi, Kenya
17:00 Scoring by quarter: 15–17, 11–21, 13–7, 19–18
Pts: Mothiba 20
Rebs: Mokwena 15
Asts: Pfachi 4 		Boxscore Pts: McGlynn 20
Rebs: Mendes 13
Asts: Three players 4 		Arena: Kasarani Indoor Arena
Attendance: 300
Referees: Walelign Fikadu Gebeto (ETH), Mahamadou Diallo (MLI), Jerome Denis (MRI)

Basketball Africa League

Main article: 2025 BAL season

MBB received a wild card for the BAL, and was allocated in the Nile Conference, which was played in Kigali.[5]

Nile Conference

See also: 2025 BAL season group phase § Nile Conference
Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD PCT Qualification
1 Al Ahli Tripoli 6 6 0 604 498 +106 1.000 Advance to playoffs
2 APR (H) 6 3 3 530 508 +22 .500
3 6 2 4 476 539 −63 .333
4 Nairobi City Thunder 6 1 5 474 539 −65 .167
Source: BAL
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
(H) Hosts
17 May 2025
1
 MBB 77–87 Al Ahli Tripoli Kigali, Rwanda
14:30 Scoring by quarter: 15–20, 18–25, 17–19, 27–23
Pts: Mooring 26
Rebs: Three players 7
Asts: Mooring, Lenard 3 		Boxscore Pts: Boissy 28
Rebs: Sadi 13
Asts: Adams, Badrush 5 		Arena: BK Arena
Attendance: 3,557
Referees: Kenneth Gardner, Hassane Kamate, Asmae Benkhadra
18 May 2025
2
 MBB 81–103 APR Kigali, Rwanda
17:30 Scoring by quarter: 26–23, 21–22, 12–28, 22–30
Pts: Lenard 20
Rebs: Sibanyoni 7
Asts: Mooring 6 		Boxscore Pts: Ndoye 25
Rebs: Diarra 14
Asts: Habimana 8 		Arena: BK Arena
Attendance: 4,946
Referees: Maripier Malo, Gina Catanzariti, Mahamadou Diallo
20 May 2025
3
 Nairobi City Thunder 74–75 MBB Kigali, Rwanda
16:00 Scoring by quarter: 15–22, 18–10, 27–18, 14–25
Pts: Ganapamo 21
Rebs: Adera 7
Asts: Adera 5 		Boxscore Pts: Prinsloo 30
Rebs: Prinsloo 11
Asts: Lenard, Mooring 5 		Arena: BK Arena
Attendance: 3,279
Referees: Cameron Garber, Jean Sauveur Ruhamiriza, Mahamadou Diallo
22 May 2025
4
 APR 88–94 MBB Kigali, Rwanda
19:00 Scoring by quarter: 15–16, 24–22, 19–29, 30–27
Pts: Noel 23
Rebs: Ndoye 10
Asts: Habimana 6 		Boxscore Pts: Mooring 29
Rebs: Craig 10
Asts: Mooring 5 		Arena: BK Arena
Attendance: 5,337
Referees: Gina Catanzariti, Claudio Eiuba, Asmae Benkhadra
24 May 2025
5
 MBB 76–85 Nairobi City Thunder Kigali, Rwanda
14:30 Scoring by quarter: 24–20, 15–21, 15–14, 22–30
Pts: Lenard 39
Rebs: Lenard, Sibanyoni 9
Asts: Sibanyoni 2 		Boxscore Pts: Odero 23
Rebs: Adera 14
Asts: Iroegbu 7 		Arena: BK Arena
Attendance: 3,251
Referees: Gina Catanzariti, Amir Taboubi, Hassane Kamate
25 May 2025
6
 Al Ahli Tripoli 102–73 MBB Kigali, Rwanda
14:30 Scoring by quarter: 23–16, 19–18, 27–14, 33–25
Pts: Adams 28
Rebs: Marei 10
Asts: Badrush 5 		Boxscore Pts: Lenard 18
Rebs: Lenard 11
Asts: Mooring 5 		Arena: BK Arena
Attendance: 3,632
Referees: Jean Sauveur Ruhamiriza, Silver Houngbedji, Amir Taboubi

References

  1. ^ "FIBA Africa Zone 6 Weekly Review: 20/08/2024 | AfricaBasket". www.africabasket.net. Retrieved 7 September 2024.
  2. ^ "Meet the team: MBB". www.fiba.basketball. 25 November 2024. Retrieved 26 November 2024.
  3. ^ MBB Basketball [@mbb_basketball]; (12 January 2025). "MBB at BAL 2025! We have a lot of work to do and are beyond ready to put in all that work. Proud to be representing South Africa this season. It's going to be a good year. Let's do this!" – via Instagram.
  4. ^ MBB Basketball [@mbb_basketball]; (4 February 2025). "MBB welcomes Sam Vincent! Sam Vincent, a former NBA champion and well established international coach with incredible impact over many years, is joining Team MBB as head coach for BAL Season 5! Sam has a deep love for our country and continent, and is ready to bring his invaluable experience and passion for the game to our players and team. GHIV US Everything you've got Coach! Let's go! #iTeamYaseDladleni #GHIVUS #MadeByBall" – via Instagram.
  5. ^ a b "2025 BAL SEASON TO FEATURE RECORD SIX NEW TEAMS". The BAL. Retrieved 28 February 2025.
  6. ^ "Opong's last-gasp three-pointer sinks the Thunder". The BAL. Retrieved 21 May 2025.
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