MANAMA (FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Asian Qualifiers) - Lebanon and Iraq ramped up their preparation for the Asian Qualifiers third window by playing at a mini-tournament in Bahrain.

It was a three-day competition held at the Zain Basketball Arena featuring both the Cedars and the Iraqis as well as the Egypt national squad and, of course, the hosts.

Lebanon finished second place overall in the tournament with a 2-win, 1-loss record. The Lebanese dropped their opening day assignment to Egypt, 71-60, but they recovered well when they beat Iraq, 80-57, and Bahrain, 89-66, in successive fashion.

Iraq did not fare as well, though, losing all three of their fixtures. They lost to the hosts, 71-65, before bowing to West Asia rivals Lebanon, 80-57, and eventually also fell short against Egypt, 56-49, despite a strong start.

On the final day, national team veteran Elie Rustom shone for the Cedars with 19 points, while big man Bassel Bawji added 15 and shooter Amir Saoud tossed in 12 points.

As for the Iraqis, they drew 17 points from Ali Moayyed in their tight loss to Egypt.

Iraq are preparing for crucial matches in the third window, where they need to win at least once to keep their hopes of advancing to the second round alive. They face Kazakhstan on 29 June and close out their first round campaign against Qatar on 2 July.

Lebanon, for their part, have already qualified to the second round, where they are certain to meet powerhouse teams New Zealand, China and Korea. The Cedars, therefore, need to carry over as many wins as possible, but that may be easier said than done as they square off against Jordan on 28 June before playing Syria on 1 July. Both games will be at the Nouhad Nawfal Sports Complex in Zouk Mikael.

FIBA