JEDDAH: KIA Al Jabr-Lebanese community basketball team owned the opening week in the Intercultural Basketball Tournament as it scored consecutive wins against Arab neighbors Egypt and Syriana-IKK for a 2-0 lead at the Al-Kaki court (Orca) on Tahlia stret here.
First to fall victim to the Lebanese juggernaut on opening day Friday of this three weekends compact tournament was Egyptian selection 69-60, with Fadi Kheyai, Ahmad Kheir and Mahmoud Zreik scoring 18, 13 and 9 points respectively.
Returning to the court Saturday for another nightcap game against Syria, head coach Hassan Zeineddein and the Lebanese team hammered out another convincing 66-55 victory.
Speaking to Arab News, Zeineddein said his team, after being down by 12 points against the Egyptians, mounted a comeback in the last quarter after a full court defensive strategy to get the win. Veteran Mohamed Fawzi, a long-range shooting specialist, showed the way for the Egyptians with 19 points, while Mohammed Hamdy and Mohammed Abulmajd each had 11 points.
In contrast, the Lebanese had a great start leading by 21 points against the Syrians on Saturday only to see their lead cut down to three in the third quarter after coach Mohamad Albunni’s charges rallied.
In the end, Lebanese managed to come out on top comfortably after a huge defensive combat between the sides. Zreik led the Lebanese with 10 points followed by Kheyami 19 and Kheir 13 points.
For the Syrians, playmaker Wabel Dandashi, Majed Mostafa and Aiman Mallah tallied 16, 10 and 9 points.
The Syrians saved a split for the first weekend of this tournament, an initiative of Event Manager Mohammed Shobain and Consultant-adviser Mohamad Bayoumi, thanks to a close 54-53 victory in the first game Friday over Saudi Arabia.
The leading scorers for Syriana were Micah Jimerson and Dandashi with 16 and 14 points while the Saudis had Alaa Gashgary, Hassan Fallatah and Abdulrahman Almaghrabi on 13, 10 and 7 points.
The KAU-Saudi Arabia like Syriana had a 1-1 card after the first week after beating Team Pilipinas 96-80 in the first game Saturday.
Coached by Abdulrahman Shahin and Mokhtar Fallatah, the Saudis jumped the gun on coach Francis Magat’s team with a strong game from the get-go.
Despite a great effort the Filipinos could not seem to shake off the young Saudi team. Joseph Ubalde led all scorers on 32 points, JR Piedra contributed 9 points and Mursie Akad 5 for the Filipinos.
The Saudis drew double-digit production from Mohammed Ader 25, Mohanned Amir 21, Hassan Fallatah 14, Salman Mohammed 11 and Mohammed Fallatah 11.
The 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.
KIA Al Jabr-Lebanese team steals show in Intercultural Basketball Tournament
KIA Al Jabr-Lebanese team steals show in Intercultural Basketball Tournament
