Naft Abadan, Al Riyadi punch tickets to Semi-finals in second day of FIBA Asia Champions Cup

BANGKOK (Thailand) - Muharraq and Hyundai Mobis rebounded back for their first win, while al Riyadi and Naft Abadan escaped with wins at shots on the buzzer.

There were multiple high-level individual performances throughout the day from the likes of Hamed Haddadi and Kevin Murphy, but it’s tough to beat another clutch performance by Wael Arakji.

Scores

Fubon Braves 66-68 Naft Abadan
Al Riyadi 77-75 Alvark Tokyo
Muharraq 97-80 Hitech Bangkok City
Guangdong Southern Tigers 76-93 Hyundai Mobis

Key Points

It came down to the final shot by Lin Chih-Chieh for Fubon and Wael Arakji from Riyadi. Only one of the two Asian stars made the final dagger shot and it was only Arakji and Riyadi that ended up celebrating their made shot at the final buzzer.

 

Key Players

It’s going to read like a duplicate line, but Wael Arakji was once again unstoppable for Al Riyadi, especially in the waning seconds of a tight game. 21 points on 9-17 shooting and a buzzer-beating game winner just seems like a standard for Arakji at this point.

Kevin Murphy came one point short of the tournament-high scoring total at 37 points for Muharraq, but did so in 35 minutes of playing time and on 24 shots. Not a bad way to rebound for your first win of the Asia Champions Cup.

Asian basketball fans all know that Hamed Haddadi and Ra Guna are both beasts, but they just decided to remind everyone today with their monster stat lines. Haddadi finished with 18 points, 18 boards, 4 assists, 3 steals, and 3 blocks, while Ra Guna powered his way over Guangdong with 27 points and 17 rebounds.

Stats Don’t Lie

On a day where nearly every team struggled from beyond the arc, Hyundai Mobis rained in 14 threes with 46.7 percent accuracy, unsurprisingly leading them to a 93-76 win. Sharpshooter Oh Yong-Jun gave them a big boost of the bench with 21 points, all from downtown with 7 triples made.

A large factor to Fubon’s win on the first day was how involved Sim Bhullar was on the offensive end. Naft Abadan were able to limit that presence, keeping the 7-footer to only 4 points on 6 attempts which sent coach Hsu Chin-Che looking for other options.

Bottom Line

Naft Abadan and Al Riyadi are through to the Semi-finals after the results of the games today. However, they still need to collect the final game of the Group Phase to get the desired top seed.

On the other hand, Hitech Bangkok City and Guangdong Southern Tigers are officially out of the running for the Asia Champions Cup title.

The marquee matchups for tomorrow will see the Braves play Muharraq and Alvark Tokyo play Hyundai Mobis for the final Semi-finals spot in their groups.

They said:

“Haddadi, he’s probably the best center in Asia. But we didn’t give up, we stayed with it whole game, and it gave us another shot to win the game.” - Fubon head coach Hsu Chin-Che

“This is what champions are made of, if you are mentally weak you can’t play this game, you have to be mentally strong on both ends.” - Jean Abd El Nour on Al Riyadi’s mental toughness

“I know they hit a lucky shot but we hit a better shot after that.” - Jean Abd El Nour on Arakji’s game-winner

“it’s easy. Winner advances [in tomorrow’s game]. Tomorrow is going to be a close game, it’s going to be a dog fight. Winner advances, so it’s down to us and them. This is why you play. Three days in three games, you know it’s tough but they did the same thing so it’s no excuse.” - Mike Harris on Muharraq’s crucial game tomorrow

FIBA