ZOUK MIKAEL (Lebanon) - The Cedars saw an opportunity for an easy victory, and took it with open arms.
Saudi Arabia, who were already missing center Mohammed Almarwani due to injury, were further hit with the absence of Asia Cup 2025 rebounding leader Mohammed Alsuweilem.
Lebanon made them rue their absence, with a blowout 94-64 victory, to close in on a spot in the Second Round of the World Cup 2027 Asian Qualifiers
The stars of both teams were on fire early, Asia Cup 2025 scoring leader Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman for Saudi Arabia, and Wael Arakji for Lebanon.
But the Cedars built a double-digit lead at the end of the first frame, thanks to Arakji and senior team rookie Jihad Elkhatib. Jihad, the son of the legendary Lebanese Tiger Fadi, dropped 10 points in a scintillating first quarter alone.
Thanks to Rahkman, Saudi Arabia were able to bring it within 4 early in the second quarter, only to watch Lebanon surge ahead again.
With Saudi Arabia severely undersized, Lebanon controlled the interior, as Dedric Lawson and Youssef Khayat made merry around the rim.
Turning Point
After a 6-2 start thanks to Rahkman's back-to-back threes, Lebanon took over and never conceded the lead till the final buzzer.
Key players
Wael Arakji. The Cedars' beloved floor general started strong, and stayed strong, to finish with final figures of 18 points, 5 assists and 3 rebounds in just 26 minutes at an impressive overall 22 efficiency.
He also had this moment of razzle-dazzle:
Not to be outdone, Cedars center Dedric Lawson also stuffed his statsheet with a 17 points, 13 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks, at a whopping +32 efficiency.
Stats don't lie
57-32 rebounding advantage for Lebanon.
54-32 points in the paint also in favour of the Cedars.
Both of the stats above are completely understandable when you factor in the absence of Saudi Arabia's starting frontcourt duo.
Coming into this encounter, Lebanon (42 points per game) and Saudi Arabia (43 points) were two of the three teams averaging the most points in the paint per game amongst all teams in the Asia region in the World Cup 2027 Qualifiers. With the two sides facing off, it was overwhelmingly Lebanon who won on the interior scoring battle.
Before this game, Lebanon averaged 21 points per game in fastbreak situations during the first window of the W
orld Cup 2027 Qualifiers, more than any other team in Asia. Tonight too, they put up 23 breakaway points.
Lebanon had won their previous two games against Saudi Arabia, conceding fewer than 70 points on both occasions. This time too, the Cedars would restrict the Saudis to just 64 points.
Bottom line
After a strong initial showing against India in the opening window, Saudi Arabia's campaign is suddenly looking jitt
ery. The double whammy of losing their key centers in this crucial window, where they faced not only Lebanon, but will be up next against Qatar, means that what could have been a top-two finish might not now be possible.
They Said
“We missed two of our centers with injury, we tried to do something with this small lineup. I’m happy with the effort of our players. That’s all I can say, nothing else.” – Saudi Arabia Coach Ali Alsanhani
“It was a tough game. I felt like we started off fine, in the first two quarters it was a close game. Then they started going on a run and that’s when they started to separate from us. The biggest difference is rebounding, they had 59, we had 32. We missed a lot of freethrows, we shot 54 percent. It’s hard to win a game when you get outrebounded and miss a lot of freethrows. We just have to learn from our mistakes and get ready for the next game.” - Khalid Abdel Gabar (KSA)
“It was an amazing night in front of our fans. The Lebanese fans showed up big time, supported us and the players also showed up and we had a great game. Offensively and defensively, we controlled the game. This is what we want. This is the first goal [of] this window, achieved. Defensively, we were very aggressive, we made a lot of stops and we created our shots so I’m so happy [and] proud of the players.” – Lebanon Coach Ahmad El Farran
“We didn’t particularly shoot very well tonight. But the way our team played defense, we hustled, we went after every loose ball, made us get some easy baskets in transition. We started sharing the ball a lot better and got easy buckets that helped us win by a big margin. – Hayk Gyokchyan (LBN)
Watch the post-game press conference:
FIBA