Al-Ahly Ly SC (basketball) explained

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Al-Ahly Ly
Nickname:	The Long Journey The Butchers
Leagues:	Libyan Basketball League BAL
Founded:	1950 (parent club: 1947)
Arena:	Suliman Darrat Arena
Location:	Benghazi, Libya
Colors:	Red, White
Coach:	Aoun Monaem
Championships:	3 (2010, 2011, 2023)
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History:	Al Ahly Benghazi (1950–present)
Chairman:	Khaled Mohamed
Current:	2023–24 Al Ahly Benghazi basketball season

Al-Ahly Sports Cultural & Social Club (Arabic: الأهلي), also known as Al-Ahly Ly^[1] ^[2] ^[3] or Al-Ahly Benghazi, is a Libyan basketball club that is based in Benghazi. Founded in 1950, the club competes in the Libyan Division I Basketball League and has won three championships, in 2010, 2011 and 2023.

In the 2024 season, they played in the Basketball Africa League (BAL), becoming the first team from Libya to play in the competition. Al Ahly has won the Arab Club Championship in 2012 and 2013. They were runners-up in the 2024 BAL season.

History

Al-Ahly is the basketball section of the multi-sports club; the basketball section was founded in 1950, although the club had been active before. They finished third in the 2008–09 Libyan League season.^[4] The club won their first national championship in 2010, and won a second consecutive one in 2011.

In 2012, Al Ahly won the Arab Club Basketball Championship, by defeating JS Kairouan of the Tunisia in the final.^[5] They repeated for a second consecutive title in 2013. Both tournaments were hosted in Benghazi.

BAL finalists (2023–2024)

Al Ahly ended a 12-year drought in 2022-23, when the club won its third national championship. As such, Al-Ahly was eligible to represent Libya in the Road to BAL 2024 tournament. They acquired high-profile players such as ex-BAL Defensive Player of the Year Ater Majok, All-BAL First Team selection Chris Crawford and two-time BAL champion Solo Diabate. On 5 November 2023, Al Ahly clinched their berth in the 2024 BAL season, following their 93-84 win over FAP in the third place game. Crawford scored 39 points in the decisive game.^[6] As such, Al Ahly Benghazi became the first team from Libya to qualify for the BAL main tournament.

The team acquired import players Jo Lual-Acuil, Majok Deng, Kevin Murphy and Pierre Jackson for the main BAL season. After finishing second in the Nile Conference, they entered the playoffs as the seventh seed but were able to eliminate the defending champions Al Ahly from Egypt. In the semifinal, the Rivers Hoopers from Nigeria were eliminated after overtime.^[7] In the decisive final, Al Ahly lost to Petro de Luanda to finish in second place.^[8] Al Ahly Ly's Jo Lual-Acuil was named the BAL Most Valuable Player of the season.