Lebanon’s men’s basketball team started its Asian Cup matches in Indonesia until July 24, with a big victory over its Philippine counterpart, with a result (95-80) in the match that took place on Wednesday afternoon in Group D, which also includes New Zealand and India.
The rice team (ranked 54 globally and 9 Asian) deserved to beat the Philippines (ranked 34 globally and 6 Asian) in the match because it knew how to absorb the “Filipino steadfastness” at the beginning of the match to complete the meeting, imposing its rhythm and continuing its strong performances in recent times. Lebanon became the only Arab team that He wins so far in the current tournament after all the Arab teams, namely Syria, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Bahrain, lost their first matches.
In the fourth and final quarter, the Philippines team tried to return from afar, but the Lebanese team knew how to maintain its progress and calm the pace of play thanks to the experience and practice of its players. The Cedar team finished the match by winning by 15 points (95-80) and achieved its first victory in its first match in the 2022 Asian Cup.
Lebanon represented: Wael Arakji (20 points), Jonathan Arledge (19), Hayek Keukjian (19), Sergio Darwish (10), Youssef Khayat (7), Elie Chamoun (6), Gerard Hadidian (6), Karim Ezzedine (5) Ali Mansour (3), Ali Mezher and Karim Zainoun.
Lebanon will meet its New Zealand counterpart at four o’clock in the afternoon, Beirut time, in a meeting that determines the “leader” of the fourth group, who qualifies directly to the quarter-finals directly, while the teams that occupy the second and third places in each group will play a match to cross into the quarter-finals. Lebanon will conclude its matches in the first round against India at seven o’clock Beirut time on Sunday morning, July 17th.
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