TIANJIN (FIBA Asia Championship) - Rony Fahed scored nine of his game-high 21 points at the crucial juncture as Lebanon pulled away to a 68-65 win over Korea in the last of the quarterfinals on Friday.
The win which pitted Lebanon against hosts China in the last four, also ensured that the West Asian giants entered the semifinals for the fifth Championship.
While for Lebanon it was setting a new record, for Korea it was breaking one. The 2007 FIBA Asia Championship bronze medalists failed to qualify for the semifinals for the first time in FIBA Asia Championship history.
“It wasn’t easy at all. We always knew it was going to be a one ball game,” said Dragan Raca.
“I’m glad it ended in our favour,” he heaved a sigh of relief.
With such high stakes in place, it was only natural both teams were edgy and error-prone in their offence. Scoring in spurts was sporadic and leads were shaky as both teams fought on even keel in exchanges as well as scoring.
Thus, neither the run 10-0 Lebanon posted – with five points on each side of the first quarter break – nor a similar spree Korea recorded midway through the third quarter gave any decisive edge on the scoreboard to any team.
And when Rony Fahed’s three-point attempt blazed the basket to tie the score at 49 at the end of the third quarter the game reached a new crescendo.
The Sagesse guard scored the six of the next eight points in the game – with Mat Freije success on the paint interspersing – and Lebanon had posted another 10-0 run.
Only this time the 2007 FIBA Asia Championship silver medalists 2007 FIBA Asia Championship silver medalists guarded it with ferocity.
Fahed returned a 3/6 in three-pointers out of a 6/11 field record.
“I’m happy I could help the team to this important win,” Fahed said.
Korea launched a counter-offensive yet again, with Kang Byunghun firing in two back-to-back three-pointers and assisting Kim Joo Sung for another to close in 59-62.
And Yang Donggeun sank another to take it further close to 64-65, but Korea had taken five attempts to get that success leaving them with too little a time.
Freije who went 60% in field attempts (6/10), including a 2/4 in three pointers contributed 14 points for Lebanon. He also pulled down seven rebounds.
Kim Joo Sung was the leading scorer for Korea with 14 points.
Ha Seung-jin pulled down a game-high nine rebounds, but scored only two points.
source:
www.lebnt.tk
