BANGKOK (Thailand) - The first two opening games of FIBA Asia Champions Cup ended in dominating wins for Naft Abadan and Alvark Tokyo, while the Fubon Braves had to turn on the burners on in the second half to break away for a big win over Hitech.

The climax of the day was between Riyadi and Hyundai Mobis with both teams trading blows in an exciting matchup that went to overtime. Yang Dong-geun’s desperation attempt at the final buzzer clanged off the rim, resulting in an opening win for Riyadi.

Scores

Naft Abadan 85-64 Muharraq
Alvark Tokyo 85-65 Guangdong Southern Tigers
Hitech Bangkok City 69-88 Fubon Braves
Al Riyadi 92-90 Hyundai Mobis (overtime)

Key Points

The Fubon Braves figured out Hitech’s pressure defense in the second half and ran away with the game. The Braves started the third quarter with a 15-3 run and never looked back.

It’s also a good thing they had hulking giant Sim Bhullar who had 23 points on 11-15 free-throw shooting and 14 boards to pack up the paint.

There were too many twists and turns in the marquee game of the day between Riyadi and Hyundai, but in the end it was Arakji’s two clutch shots that mattered the most. His layups to send the game to overtime and another to win the game in the extra session will be the talk of the town for quite a while in Lebanon.

Key Players

Wael Arakji, 38 points, 5 triples, game-tying layup to force overtime, game-winning layup in overtime. As teammate Tabbara said, “He is the [expletive] man!”

In other games, Alex Kirk was named to the All-Star Five in 2018 and he reminded us why in his first game of this year’s competition. The 27-year-old center dominated with 25 points, 9 rebounds, and 10-15 shooting from the field.

Stats Don’t Lie

While Alex Kirk shined for Alvark, he was barely the lone star on the team. The back-to-back B.League champions showed off their depth with 8 players scoring at least 5 points in their tournament opening win.

21 times the lead changed in the game between Riyadi and Hyundai, with the final one going in the favor of the Lebanese champions.

Its’ a tough pill for the KBL champs to swallow in just their first contest. They played in a great game and at least now they know that they have to polish their passing and ball control after coughing up 22 turnovers in this loss.

Bottom Line

Naft Abadan and Alvark Tokyo showed how serious they were and how much they want to win this title.

The Braves did their homework from the East Asia Qualifiers, effective solving Hitech’s pressure defense that caused them trouble in their first matchup.

And both Riyadi and Hyundai Mobis are strong contenders in this competition, as expected, though one team had to go back as losers of this game.

They said:

“He is the [expletive] man!” - Al Riyadi’s Mohamad Bilal Tabbara on Wael Arakji’s performance

“We fought, man. We fought like champions. I can say that it is the slogan of this club: We keep fighting no matter what. We did what we had to do to win the game.” - Riyadi’s Wael Arakji

“We’re just happy that we’re back in the international tournament and happy to get the win.” - Fubon’s coach Hsu Chin-Che

“We played Fubon basketball and we played fast.” - Fubon’s Tsai Wen-Cheng

FIBA