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-October
17th:
* Sagesse v/s
Zamalek: (90-89)
It
all came down to the last five seconds of the overtime
between Sagesse and reigning champions of the Damascus
International Tournament, Zamalek. Sagesse were one point
down, 88-89, when Johnny Rhodes drew a foul and went to
the free-throw line. He missed the first one, threw the
second and followed it for the offensive rebound, the
lay-up and with a foul. He added the point to put Sagesse
up by one, 90-89, and Zamalek failed to score. Ousted from
the final, Zamalek took aim at one of the game official
and Ali Genayni attacked him while he was next to Sagesse
bench. The tournament’s technical committee met later
that night and suspended him along with his coach, who was
accused of instigating the row and verbally attacking his
opponents.
Head
Coach Ghassan Sarkis used eight players, including Dani
Barhoum who came in for about 8 seconds with 18 seconds
remaining in overtime.
Sagesse
had a strong start opening a 6-point gap, but Zamalek used
their size advantage to tie and go up by one with 6
seconds remaining in the first quarter. Rhodes made a
steal and scored from behind the ark to put Sagesse back
ahead, 24-22. Assane Ndiaye had two blocks and Elie Nasr
got 4 defensive rebounds.
Nasr
told Sarkis he wanted to guard Zamalek’s giant Shaaban
Abdulwahab (217 cm) and succeeded with Ndiaye to
double-team him and reduce his efficiency in the post.
Ndiaye got a third block in the second quarter with four
rebounds but Zamalek’s three-point shooting kept them at
close distance and they were able to go to the break one
point behind, 41-42.
In
the third quarter, Zamalek used their outside shooting and
were able to outscore Sagesse and end the quarter with
three points ahead, 61-58, despite Sagesse’s brave
defense with 15 rebounds and another block shot from
Ndiaye.
In
the final quarter, Sherrel Ford had one fast break and
Fadi Khatib got away with two. Ford, Khatib and Mechantaf
got a three-pointer each but the team failed to take
advantage of Ford’s ability to score from long distance,
as he rarely received the ball while in a shooting
position. Sagesse came from behind to tie the game at 80
but failed to take advantage of the last possession when
Khatib missed one of his two free throws and kept the game
tied and send it for an overtime, Sagesse’s second in
the tournament.
Zamalek
went ahead in overtime but Sagesse’s defense was able to
grab six rebounds and Rhodes’s creativity allowed them
to end the game by one point.
Sagesse
were able to deal with their opponent’s size advantage,
as they grabbed 46 rebounds and got 9 blocks, including 6
from Ndiaye. Sarkis said his team’s defensive
performance owned them the game, as they had a poor
shooting percentage and 16 turnovers. They shot 14-of-29
from free throws, 20-of-49 from two points, and 12-of-35
from behind the ark.
In
the other semifinal, the other Lebanese team, Riyadi,
ousted last year’s finalist, host Al Wahda, to reach the
final. Sagesse and Riyadi will have an all-Lebanese final
Thursday night.
Starters:
Johnny
Rhodes, Elie Nasr, Elie Mechantaf, Assane Ndiaye and Fadi
EL Khatib.
Substitutes:
Sherrel
Ford, Ali Chamsine and Dani Barhoum.
Score
box:
Khatib:
23 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists
Ndiaye:
17 points, 14 rebounds, 6 blocks
Mechantaf:
14 points, 3 rebounds
Nasr:
11 points, 9 rebounds
Rhodes:
11 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals
Ford:
11 points, 3 rebounds, 2 steals
Chamsine:
3 points, 1 rebounds.
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