KIA Al Jabr-Lebanese five in final, Team Pilipinas rebounds

Team Pilipinas-Panino's basketball team. (AN photo)

JEDDAH: : KIA Al Jabr-Lebanese community basketball team saw its 13-point lead in the fourth quarter evaporate in thin air but held on to a 67-63 victory over KAU-Saudi Arabia last Friday in the Intercultural Basketball Tournament at the Al-Kaki court (Orca) on Tahlia street.
In a short tournament where every game counts, coach Hassan Zeineddein and his charges hurdled the tough part of qualifying for the final with their third straight victory in this event, an initiative of Event Manager Dr. Mohammed Shobain and Consultant-adviser Mohamed Bayoumi.
But the win did not come easy. Dictating the game for the most part against the young legs of the Saudis the Lebanese opened an 11-point lead, 46-35, at the start of the third period that ended 54-46 to Lebanon team.
A 10-3 run to start the fourth quarter staked the Lebanese to a 62-49 lead courtesy of Zakharia Al Baba, Mahmoud Zriek and Ahmad Kheir. The Saudis, under coach Abdulrahman Shahin, refused to be intimidated and mounted their own 11-0 run.
That was a more than four-minute stretch that Lebanese went without a basket and the Saudis crept to within 62-61, time down to 1:45.
Fadi Kheyami converted an assist from Kheir for 64-61and a wild sequence followed before Al Baba ensured the Lebanese’s victory after split charities from KAU’s Mohammed Fallatah.
The second week was a good one for Francis Magat’s Team Pilipinas as it rebounded from an opening week defeat by Saudi Arabia to score victories against Egypt 90-57 and Syriana-IKK 82-61.
The Filipinos broke away in the middle quarters to send winless Egypt to another defeat. Joseph Ubalde and Arold Magat both scored 15 points, JR Piedra and Rey Razon also had 14 points apiece while Valderama had 8.
Against the Syriana, Pilipinas unveiled a surprise package in guard in Rino Berrido who disturbed the Syrian rhythm in the fourth quarter, while Piedra and Ubalde led the Filipinos’ offense on 16 and 15 points.
Saudi Arabia defeated Egypt 65-51 Friday to complete the games for the second week.
With Lebanon in the final, Pilipinas could seal a championship clash against the Lebanese with a victory in their 7 p.m. match Friday.
A defeat would force a triple tie at 2-2 among Pilipinas, Saudi Arabia and Syriana, which is expected to beat Egypt in their 9 p.m. game Friday. Under this scenario the Saudis will advance to the final with the best goal average of 1.1119. Pilipinas has 1.0318 and Syriana 0.8519.
The round-robin tournament, which brings together select players representing five countries that will vie for basketball supremacy in a spirit of fun and camaraderie among men of different cultural backgrounds, is a project of SAGE (Saudi Alumni Grant Enterprise) under the auspices of United States Consulate General in Jeddah. The sponsors are Jeddah United, GlobalActivene and Arab News.