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Monastir had no answers for Amadou Abdoulaye Harouna, who shot 12-for-24 from the field on the way to a game-high 33 points.
Basketball Africa League champions US Monastir had already won two games by the time they faced ABC Fighters Friday evening.
The Tunisian giants were, however, far from convincing in their two wins.
They had a tough time beating Mali’s Stade Malien (78-68) and Nigerian outfit Kwara Falcons (85-75).
A clash with ABC was always going to be a tough one, and it ended in defeat for Miodrag Perisic’s charges, who fell 90-74 to miss out on sealing an early slot in the playoffs.
The start was perfect for Monastir, leading 27-21 after the first 10 minutes of the game.
At the start of the second frame, Liz Mills’ charges stepped up and suffocated Monastir’s offence, limiting the defending champions to a mere nine points.
What was a six-point advantage for Monastir (27-21) at the end of the first quarter turned into a five-point lead (41-36) for ABC going into the halftime break.
Monastir had no answers for Amadou Abdoulaye Harouna, who shot 12-for-24 from the field on the way to a game-high 33 points.
The shooting guard made four-of-12 attempts from downtown and eight-of-12 from inside to hurt Monastir.
The Ivorians led by as many as ten points midway through the third frame, but Monastir cut that to four points (58-54) going into the final quarter.
There was, however, no coming back as ABC took complete control in the fourth frame to win by 16 points.
Mike Fofana and Stephane Konate scored 18 and 15 points, respectively, for ABC to improve to a 2-1 record and brighten their chances of qualifying for the playoffs.
Point guard Jerome Randle scored a team-high 25 points for Monastir, while Ibrahima Thomas and Radhouane Slimane added 14 and 12, respectively.
The defeat leaves Monastir on a 2-1 record but still in contention for a slot in the playoffs.
Basketball Africa League
Sahara Conference
Friday result
ABC Fighters 90-74 US Monastir
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