Liberia Basketball Association First Division champions NPA Pythons have been drawn into Group B of the West Division for the Road to Basketball Africa League qualifiers. They will face Energie Basketball Club of Benin, AS Douanes of Burkina Faso, Spintex Knights of Ghana and Red Flames of Sierra Leone, with the group stage scheduled for Oct. 21-25 in Tripoli, Libya.
The top two teams from the group will advance to the Elite 16 stage of the Road to BAL competition, moving one step closer to qualification for the Basketball Africa League, Africa’s premier professional club basketball competition organised in partnership with the NBA and FIBA Africa.
Pythons earned their place in the qualifiers after defeating LPRC Oilers to win the 2026 Liberia Basketball Association First Division championship. The best-of-five final series was tied 2-2 before Pythons prevailed 46-38 in the decisive game. They return to continental competition for the first time since 2019, when they competed in the Road to BAL Group B qualifiers in Cotonou, Benin.
Their only victory in that 2019 campaign came against GRA Customs Braves of Ghana after Pythons rallied from an 11-point deficit in the fourth quarter to force overtime and secure the win. Samuel Davidson, who came off the bench for Pythons, recorded a double-double with 14 points and 21 rebounds, along with two assists, while John Lewis Bing added 13 points, 10 rebounds and two assists.
