22nd FIBA Asia Championship Cup Roundup Day- 2: Mahram and Smart Gilas
Pilipinas win – Part 1
Mahram 90 – Al Shabab 73
On Sunday night at the Philsports Multi-Purpose Arena, Philippines, the two-time defending Champions Mahram of Iran wrapped up a magnificent 90-73 victory over the Al Shabab of UAE. Christopher Williams was the highlight of the
night. He racked up a game-high 31 points and clutched 8 rebounds to hand Al Shabab their second loss in as many days.
After losing to Al Riyadi Beirut on the opening day of the Championship Cup, Al Shabab did extremely well in the first three quarters to keep themselves in a competitive position. However, Mahram absolutely thrashed the opposition
in the fourth quarter to snatch a brilliant victory.
Samb Cheikh Tidian provided substantial support to Williams, landing 24 points and 7 rebounds to marshal the defending champions to their second successive win of the tournament. Fields Courtney and Rashed Al Zaabi were the top
performers for Al Shabab with 20 and 17 points respectively. However, they failed to carry the action down the stretch against the spirited Mahram.
Al Shabab was trailing by 2 points only with 9:36 remaining in the final buzzer when Mahram smashed the opposition with 26-11 run and ended the game with a comprehensive win.
Smart Gilas Pilipinas 95 – KL Dragons 64
The hosts Smart Gilas Pilipinas recovered tremendously in the second half of the game and outshined the surging KL Dragons of Malaysia to seal a comprehensive 95-64 victory. Smart Gilas major domination came from the field as the
team connected 51 percent of the field goals and the Dragons managed to connect only 36 percent of those shots.
Smart Gilas’ coach Rajko Toroman said "We had a lot of mistakes in the first half (11 turnovers). I just told them to quicken up the pace because we’re the quicker team. They just have to believe in themselves.”
Christopher Martin Ayer of the Dragons had a magnificent double-double as he notched up game-high 31 points and grabbed 13 rebounds. However, the rest of his team failed to pick up the slack and his supper efforts were crushed
by the well primed Smart Gilas after halftime. Marcus A. Morrison, with 15 points, was the only other Dragon, who managed to score in double figures.
On the other hand, six players from the Gilas landed double figures as they showcased a brilliant team performance. Joseph Evans Casio led the winning team with 10 points and 7 rebounds as the Smart Gilas raced away for their second
straight victory.
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