Twelve years after their great disappointment at home, when they were beaten in the final by Egypt, Lebanon was finally crowned winners of the Arab Nations Basketball Championship. (Credit: DR)
Lebanon the champions! Twelve years after its great disappointment in September 2010 at home, while the tournament was held in Beirut and the country of the Cedars was then beaten in the final by Egypt, the Lebanese men's basketball team won Wednesday night, for the first time in its history, the Arab Nations Basketball Championship, which was held in Dubai.
In the final of this 24th edition of the tournament, Lebanon faced off Wednesday against Tunisia, which had eliminated Algeria in the semi-finals Tuesday. Lebanon had beaten Somalia (87-72) on Monday in the semi-finals. Wednesday night's game was as close as it was exciting, with the Cedars winning by only three small points (72-69), during the game which was played in a packed al-Nasr Club stadium, with Lebanese spectators present in large numbers.
The suspense lasted until the end. In the last five minutes of this final, Tunisia led by nine points. But the Lebanese coach Jad el-Hajj changed his tactics, strengthening the defense of his team, which proved effective, confusing the Tunisians and their German coach. In the first quarter, the two teams were often tied, with Lebanon imposing a five-point gap before Tunisia equalized and took the lead (21-18) to close the period. In the second quarter, the Tunisians pressed, but the Lebanese came back and once again took the lead before finishing ahead (37-34). In the third quarter, neither team was able to set the pace, but Tunisia ended the period ahead by a two-point margin (54-52).
In the fourth and final quarter, the Tunisians took control from the start, widening the gap in the score. With 2 minutes and 30 seconds left, the Lebanese had reduced the score to three points. With 50 seconds to go, Lebanon was leading by one small point. Two successful free throws even allowed them to go up even more with 18 seconds left in the game, which ended in favor of the country of the Cedar against Tunisia (72-69).
As for the Lebanese players, Wael Arakji finished highest scorer of the game with 22 points, the captain Ali Haidar added 16 others, followed by Sergio Darwish (14 pts), Hayk Gioukjian (6 pts), Youssef Khayat and Jada Khalil (5 points each), Atir Majok and Ali Mezher (2 points each).
The team will return home on Thursday afternoon at 3 p.m. Beirut time. And it is with its new status of Arab champions, and great favorite, therefore, in the qualifying games of the Asian zone for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023, which will be played in a few days. Indeed, on Thursday, February 24, Lebanon will face Jordan in Amman before meeting Saudi Arabia on Sunday, February 27, in Jeddah. With two wins and zero losses, Lebanon is leading its qualifying group (pool C), which also includes Indonesia.
In addition, the Arab Basketball Federation will hold its general assembly in Dubai on Thursday to elect a new board of directors, whose mandate will run until 2024. However, the appointment of the vice presidents of the board was endorsed Wednesday at a meeting held at the Sports Council of Dubai. Nadim Hakim, the candidate of the Lebanese Federation, was confirmed as vice president representing the Arab Mashreq region.
This article was originally published in French in L'Orient-Le Jour.