IRI / LIB – Mahram blow away Fadi-less Riyadi

JAKARTA (FIBA Asia Champions Cup) - Al Riyadi Beirut took to the court without spearhead Fadi El Khatib, whose back injury recurred, and made it easier for WABA champions Mahram in the first semifinal of the 20th FIBA Asia Champions Cup on Tuesday.

Mahram seized control of the game early and went on to hand down a punishing 109-80 defeat on their fellow WABA club.

The Iranian league winners, thus, kept themselves in line for an Iranian three-peat. Saba Battery had won the Champions Cup for the last two years. For Riyadi, it was their second successive defeat at the hands of an Iranian rival in the Champions Cup semifinal, having lost 68-70 to Saba last year at Kuwait.

A 14-0 run, which saw Mahram turn a 6-9 deficit to an overwhelming 20-9 lead midway through the first quarter helped the Mostafa Hashemi-trained club to gain the upper hand in the game.

Samad Nikkah sank two three-pointers and as many off the field in a 50% field scoring rate, effected one steal and two assists to put Mahram in the driving seat.

Samad scored 10 of his game’s 22 points in the first quarter.

American center Priest Lauderdale – the tallest player in the tournament by a distance – who was necessary for only 12 minutes average in their previous five wins in the tournament for Mahram, pulled down eight rebounds to steer his team comfortably ahead in the first quarter.

A comfort that only got better as the game progressed.

Lauderdale finished with a game-high 14 rebounds, to go along side his 20 points, as Mahram won the battle of boards 50-38.

Jackson Vroman once again justified his borrowing from Saba Mehr with another game-high performance.

The former New Orleans Hornets player returned 27 points, with a 10/15 record in the field and 7/10 in free-throws.

Riyadi coach Fouad Abouchakra was in an unenviable position.

Forced to play without El Khatib, Abouchakra had another trouble at hand – that of point guard Ali Mahmoud’s strife with a flu.

The Lebanese champions had a woeful period as the game began.

They turned the ball over six times, converted only 5 of their 18 field attempts and managed only one offensive rebound in the first quarter and handed over the initiative to their rivals.

To a rival, who gleefully accepted it.

Hashemi was rather modest about the big win.

“I think things fell into place rather well, especially since they were playing without Fadi,” Hashemi said.

“We still have one more game to go before we reach our goal,” Hashemi sounded a word of caution.

“The game was lost in the first quarter,” conceded Abouchakra.

“After that it was just a matter of time.”

American Nate Johnson was the leading scorer for Riyadi with 26 points, but had a mere 6/16 record in two-pointers and a 3/7 in long-rangers.

Scores

Mahram 109 (Jackson Vroman 27, Samad Nikkah 22, Priest Lauderdale 20) bt Al Riyadi Beirut 80 (Nate Johnson 26, Ali Fakhreddine 14, Mohammad Ibrahim 14). Quarterwise Scores: 26-14, 57-31, 83-55.

S Mageshwaran
FIBA Asia