Riyadi players and staff celebrating their Asian championship title after winning the final of the Basketball Champions League Asia in Dubai on Saturday. (Credit: Lebanese Basketball Federation)
BEIRUT — Almost too easy. Far from having been satisfied by their 31st Lebanese and West Asia Super League (WASL) title, which had already amply crowned their successful season, Lebanese basketball team Riyadi added an even more prestigious line to their list of honors: That of Asian champion.
Ahmad Farran's men quickly took the lead late in the second quarter thanks to many three-point shots. When Zach Lofton, Riyadi's latest recruit to compensate for the departure of Jonathan Simmons, scored from his own half at the buzzer of the first half, it shocked the Dubai players (57-48).
After the halftime break, the Lebanese national team's star point guard Wael Arakji, the game's top scorer with 31 points and voted "MVP" of the final, crushed the opposition's defense with a series of winning drives before scoring four successive jump shots.
All that remained going into the final quarter was to manage the last ten minutes of play and prepare for the party that was about to begin with the many Lebanese fans who had packed the stands of Dubai's Sheikh Saeed Bin Maktoum stadium, exploding with joy as this new achievement by their players was ratified by the final buzzer, with a score of 122-96.
With this latest triumph in the Basketball Champions League Asia, which was contested in a new format this year, Riyadi marked one of the finest moments in the history of Lebanese basketball. After their successes in 2011 and 2017, the Manara-based club now joins their eternal rivals Sagesse, who also won the title three times in 1999, 2000 and 2004.
It remains to be seen whether they can do even better at the Intercontinental Cup Championship, from September 12 to 15, the ultimate challenge for a team that is more than ever on course to continue making history.
