Lebanese Basketball Championship - Men Division One - Regular Season 2005/06
Starters:
Lamine Diawara - Bassem Balaa - Elie Mechantaf - Fady
Khatib - Kenny Satterfield
Substitutes: Paul Khoury - Rodrigue Nacouzi - George Chibani - Joe Ghattas
) Silent minute for the soul of the martyrs, with an empty seat filled by the Lebanese flag for Gibran tueini! |
) President Chalhoub offering his sympathy to Gibran Tueini's daughter. |
) Global view of Ghazir stadium with the giant posters of the 3 martyrs. |
) A very disappointing performance by Fady Khatib. |
) Diawara's efficiency on the rebound was not enough to save the day. |
Click to read the game detailed stats
What was supposed to be a great competitive match between
the two teams who easily dominated their previous opponents
quickly turned into a nightmare for the Greens.
The game started by a tribute to the three martyrs Jebran
Tueiny, Nicolas Flouty and Andre Mrad. Ghazir stadium was
silent for a minute, paying respect for their souls.
Sagesse entered the game under the helm of assistant coach
Ahmad Fadel for his second consecutive game. Many factors
were present this night for Sagesse to impress, especially a
packed Ghazir stadium, a premiere this season.
But it seems the players were missing everything. After an
8-0 run from the visitors, Sagesse managed to tie at 11 each
after some impressive rebounding from Diawara. Rather than
build on the comeback, Sagesse were swept by an astounding
Tony Madison who hit 5 three pointers in the first ten
minutes to give Sporting a solid lead at the end of the
first quarter 28-15. Sagesse’s 15 points were scored by
Satterfield and Diawara, with Khatib and Mechantaf clearly
out of the system.
The second quarter starts with Chibani replacing Mechantaf,
both teams playing man to man defense. But the Madison show
was still at its utmost which forced Fadel to call for a
time out.
It was a crucial timing as the game was slipping out of
hands. But everyone was surprised to see Sagesse applying a
zone 2-3 defense which gave the yellow shooters easy calls
and the gap widened dangerously. Sagesse misfortune was
obvious when Khatib missed two free throws followed by a
missed dunk, as the team overall was lacking concentration.
We had to wait for 19 minutes and 30 seconds to see the
first Lebanese basket for Sagesse scored by Elie Mechantaf,
while Madison was continuing his three points concerto,
sinking his 8th successive attempt. The halftime whistle
separated the teams, with a 28 point lead for Sporting
56-28.
If Sagesse wanted to prove something, there was no better
timing than the third quarter. Indeed, the Greens achieved a
6-0 run and the fans started believing in a historical
comeback. Sporting coach was asking for a timeout to arrange
his team and contain the green fury but the yellows soon
took control of the situation and halted any counter attack.
Khatib scored his first basket 25 minutes into the game,
leaving Kenny by himself to avoid a total breakdown. Joe
Ghattas was on a full deny over Madison which altered the
latter and allowed Sagesse to win the third quarter 21 to
14. But the gap created by Sporting in the first two
quarters was abysmal and the score was an alarming 70 to 49.
Had Sagesse not missed many free throws, a possible comeback
in the last quarter would have been foreseeable. But with
such a poor performance, the game was clearly sealed in
spite of Sagesse 6-0 run; Sporting soon restricted them to
spectators with their calm, efficient and accurate display,
winning the game on a high 90 to 68. Madison finished as
best scorer with 33 points trailed by Satterfield's
impressive but inefficient 31 points. Khatib managed only
17, far from the 50 points promised to the fans.
-Game statistics courtesy of Al-Balad
newspaper - Sports Section
©-Al-Balad-2005 - All
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