Big noise Al Riyadi beats Al Rayyan in OT 78-73

Al Riyadi point guard Rodrigue Akl (on loan from Lebanese club Anibal Zahle) lays the ball in to send the match into overtime against Al Rayyan Qatar. The Beirut-based squad won in extension 78-73.

Big noise

Al Riyadi beats Al Rayyan in OT 78-73

by rick olivares

May 31, 2011

Philsports Arena

Al Riyadi Lebanon is on a mission. One of the most famous basketball clubs in Asia has won just about every club title on the continent… save for the FIBA Asia Champions Cup which they have set their sights on.

One day after dusting off two-time defending champion Mahram Iran in a hard fought 76-73 victory, the 19-time Lebanese national titlists bucked an even bigger challenge by Al Rayyan Qatar for a 78-73 win in the first overtime match of the tournament.

Heading into the match, the Qatari team was relatively better rested than their Lebanese counterparts as they had an easier time disposing of Al Jalaa Aleppo Syria 90-67 and Al Shabab UAE 78-60. And the Beirut club’s fatigue was evident all throughout the game as their shooting was way off. Even a point blank stab and layup by Fadi El Khatib could find the bottom of the net. Against Iran, they shot 46% from the field (27-58) and 60% from the free throw line (9-15).

Despite their shooting woes and El Khatib’s misfiring, center Loren Woods scored 13 points (including a pair of dunks), pulled down 7 rebounds, and blocked 2 shots in the first 13 minutes for a 22-21 Al Riyadi lead. As backup Ali Kanaan entered the match, Targuy Ngombo did his best Dwyane Wade impression while scoring on high-flying slams and gravity-defying jumpers. Teammate Ali Turki Ali also sniped from the outside for a 10-2 run and a 29-24 lead.

Lebanese coach Fouad Chakra reinserted Woods at the 4:51 mark, but Al Rayyan held them at bay as the malaise that descended upon Al Riyadi’s gunners like Jean Abdelnour and Rodrigue Akl continued.

“It’s a bad day for use from the outside,” said Chakra at the half. “We have to take it in.”

The 6’6” Abdelnour who is averaging 19.5 points per game was held to 12 including only one trey while after three quarters, El Khatib had only two field goals and two free throws in addition to 4 rebounds and 3 assists. Just as he did against Iran and while matched up against the high-leaping Ngombo, the Lebanese internationalist, muscled his way in for six huge points in the fourth quarter’s waning minutes to cut the deficit to 68-67.

With a chance to seize the lead since that fateful substitution of Woods, El Khatib turned over the ball on an aborted alley-oop to the team’s center. But Akl scored on a layup off a broken play to send the match into a five-minute extension.

Once in overtime, it was all Al Riyadi as Akl, Woods and their Egyptian power forward Ahmed Ismail who finished with 24 points and 12 rebounds, as they held Al Rayyan to a solitary point for 4 minutes and 53 seconds.

“We gave up too many defensive rebounds and had too many turnovers,” explained Qatar head coach Brian Rowsom who once played for the Indiana Pacers and Charlotte Hornets in the NBA. “That kept them in the game.”

“We never gave up because we have a mission,” said El Khatib after the match.

“This Al Riyadi team is a much better one than we had in previous years,” said Chakra who noted the development of Ismail and Akl (who took over the point guard chores from Mahmoud Ali) and the acquisition of Abdelnour and Woods as vital to their winning the Lebanese Cup and the West Asian Basketball Association championship in succession. “Our plan is to top our group and of course, to win the championship.”

Al Riyadi 78 – Ismail 24, Woods 18, El Khatib 13, Abdelnour 12, Akl 8, El Turk 3, Kanaan 0, Ibrahim 0.

Al Rayyan 73 – Ngombo 24, Leslie 15, Ali 10, Salem 0, Ndour 6, Musa 5, Cuffee 5, Abdulla 2.

 Lebanese fans at Philsports.