2011 FIBA Asia Champions Cup - Quarterfinals Roundup: Al Riyadi Beirut and Mahram win (Part-1)
Al Riyadi Beirut 106 – Duhok 80
At the Phil Sports Arena on Friday, Al Riyadi Beirut of Lebanon continued their march towards landing the first ever Asian title, as they knocked out the Duhok of Iraq from the 2011 Asia Champions Cup, beating them by a comprehensive
106-80 margin in the quarterfinals.
Jaen Abd El Nour spearheaded the Lebanese team with a team-high 24 points as Al Riyadi remained unbeaten in the tournament. El Cheikh Fadi El Khatib carried the action with Nour and finished off with 21 points.
The face of Iraqi team, Chester Jarell Giles was impressive yet again, posting a game-high 29 points and 13 boards, however, the remaining players failed to pick up the slack.
AL Riyadi outperformed the opposition in all aspects of the game leaving no room for Duhok to gain any momentum. The team of Lebanon shot 52 percent from the field, buried twelve 3-pointers and landed 77 shots percent from the
charity stripe. In comparison Duhok connected on 44 percent field goal attempts, landed a single blow from downtown and shot 58 percent on the free throws.
The Iraqi team headed out aggressively in the first few minutes of the game and procured a massive 9-2 advantage. However, Duhok’s lead proved to be short-lived as Al Riyadi picked the momentum and outplayed the Iraqis in all departments
of the game. The Lebanese champions crushed Duhok in all four quarters and sealed a brilliant win.
Mahram 102 – Al Ittihad 65
Sparked by six players in double figures, the two-time defending champions, Mahram of Iran ripped apart Al Ittihad of Saudi Arabia by a 102-65 blowout margin. Samb Cheikh Tidiane and Christopher Williams were the top performers
for the Iranian team as they racked up 18 and 14 points respectively.
Darren Kelly and Vladislav Dragojlovic were the top performers for the Saudi Arabian team. Darren notched up a game-high 24 points and 6 assists while the Dragojlovic finished the game with 19 points and 11 rebounds.
Mahram stamped their might right from the beginning and wrapped up double figure lead in the first quarter. The deficit kept on increasing for Ittihad in the next three quarters as the team of Saudi Arabia never had a cheering
moment in the game. Except for the third quarter, where both the teams scored 22 points apiece, the game looked more like a mismatch as the Iranians took yet another step towards achieving the landmark three-peat in the FIBA Asia Champions Cup.
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