FIBA Asia Champions Cup 2011: Lebanon’s Al Riyadi rips Iraq’s Duhok 106-80 in the first quarterfinal
Jaen Abd El Nour sparked Al Riyadi of Lebanon with a team high 24 points in the first quarterfinals of the 2011 FIBA Asia Championship Cup to thrash the Duhok of Iraq with 106-80 margin at the Phil Sports Arena on Friday.
The Iraqis were dominant up front and raced on to a 9-2 lead in the first few minutes of the game. But once the Lebanese champions rallied back to slash the deficit there was no turning back. Al Riyadi completely outperformed Duhok in all of the four quarters.
Faud Abouchakra, Al Riyadi’s coach said after the game, “We knew they’d try to hustle us early on. I’d told the boys exactly that, therefore we were not worried too much.”
Chester Jarell Giles posted another brilliant all round performance as he landed a game-high 29 points and clutched 13 rebounds, however his efforts fell short once again as the Iraqi team became the first team to be knocked out of the quarters. On the other
hand, Al Riyadi showcased another brilliant team performance as four players from the line-up landed double figures. El Cheikh Fadi El Khatib was the second top scorer for the Lebanese team with 21 points.
Duhok headed out impressively in the first quarter and went for a 9-2 run however the lead proved to be short-lived for the Iraqi team as Al Riyadi picked up the pace and procured a 25-19 advantage by the end of the period.
The team from Lebanon absolutely crushed the opposition in the second quarter and smashed them with 35 points, constructing a huge 26 points lead going into the halftime. Riyadi rattled the Iraqi’s completely and never gave up the double figure lead throughout
the second half of the game and wrapped up an effortless victory in the end.
Al Riyadi dominated Duhok in all the facets of the game. They shoot at 51 percent from the field as compared to a meagre 44 percent by the Iraqi’s. They also out-rebounded Duhok 48-37 and dished out 25 assists as compared to only 14 from the opposition.
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