2011 FIBA Asia Championship Cup Roundup Day 3: Al Riyadi and Al Rayyan win (Part-2)
Al Riyadi 76 – Mahram 73
In a clash of the titans at the Asia Club Championship Cup in Manila on Monday night, Al Riyadi, the champions of Lebanon, outshone the two times defending champions Mahram of Iran in a nerve wrecking battle. El Cheikh Fadi El
Khatib erupted with 25 points and guided the Lebanese team to their second win in the tournament.
He later said about the game. “A game against Mahram is never easy, we knew that. I think we were hungrier tonight. Like I said earlier, we are here to win the title. So every win against any team is only a step closer in that
direction as far as we are concerned,”
Ismail Abdel Moneim Ismail also inspired Al Riyadi with a magnificent double-double, landing 14 points and clutching 15 rebound to marshal the team to a crucial win over the Iranian champions.
On the other hand, Christopher Williams posted another top scoring performance for Mahram. Iranian team’s high profile import racked up a game-high 32 points and grabbed 6 boards. However this time, Al Riyadi ensured to keep themselves
in a competitive position despite of Williams’ sheer dominance and managed to restrict him from taking control completely.
Al Riyadi headed out aggressively in the first quarter and procured a 10 point advantage on the back of two scorching blows from downtown. Fuelled by the brilliance of Williams, Mahram however bounced back strongly in the second
quarter and snatched a 39-37 lead going into the halftime. Al Riyadi however reclaimed the advantage on a Loren G Woods’ bucket with 7:26 remaining in the third quarter from where the Lebanese team never trailed and cruised away towards the win.
Al Rayyan 78 – Al Shabab 60
Last years’ runner up Al Rayyan of Qatar took the charge aggressively right from the beginning and raced away towards a comprehensive 78-60 victory over the Al Shabab of U.A.E in the round 3 of the 2011 Asia Championship Cup.
Targuy Alban Ngombo was the driving force for the Al Rayyan on the night. Ngombo racked up a game-high 21 points, gathered 10 rebounds and dished out 5 assists, making his presence felt on both sides of the court. Yasseen Musa
also landed 17 points for the Qatari’s. Fields Courtney and Rashed Al Zaabi were the star performers for Al Shabab and saved their team from what could have been an embarrassing defeat. Courtney scored 19 points while Zaabi finished the game with 15 points.
Chauncey Leslie opened the proceedings of the night with a 3-pointer for Al Rayyan from where the Qatari Champions never relinquished their advantage. Al Shabab strived to retaliate in the second period, however Al Rayyan took
their game to a whole new level in the second half and romped to a 18 point win.
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