LIB – Riyadi prevail in Double OT of classic encounter

BEIRUT (FLB Divn. A League) - Six-time defending champions Al Riyadi Beirut on Saturday scored a pulsating 107-104 double overtime away win against archrivals and Lebanese Super Cup winners Champville to take a 2-0 lead in the 2011 Lebanese Division A League Finals.

Riyadi, who won Game 1 on Wednesday, host Game 3 of the best-of-five series on Sunday.

Having breezed through the series-opener, Riyadi met with the expected challenge on Saturday.

Buoyed by the home advantage, Champville matched their rivals point for point in what will go down as the most entertaining encounter of the entire season.

Missed chances

Ironically enough, Champville’s talismanic player Fadi El Khatib - who had scored a team-high 36 points up until then - missed his 10th three-point attempt with less than a second left in the game to hand Riyadi the win.

Miguel Martinez, tipped to play for Lebanon in the 26th FIBA Asia Championship later this year, had tried in vain in a similar fashion only moments earlier.

Those two failures were what separated the two teams.

Ismail’s triple-double

American Nate Johnson poured in a game-high 41 points and collected 11 rebounds for Riyadi.

Egyptian Ismail Ahmad had a triple double – 23 points, 18 rebounds and 11 assists – and veteran Joe Vogel added 20 points.

Ali Mahmoud came close to a triple of his own with 14 points, nine assists and eight rebounds.

Champville's Lee Benson grabbed 15 rebounds but was held to just 10 points.

Mazen Mneimneh accounted for 22 points and Tyrone Anderson 15. Martinez had 13 points.

Equal exchanges

A 16-0 spurt midway through the first quarter helped Riyadi take a 20-10 lead to end the period.

Champville though hit back with a run of 13 unanswered points to set the balance back in order.

The game then evened itself out and ultimately those missed three-pointers at the end cost Champville.

FIBA Asia