FIBA Asia Champions Cup 2011 Day-5 Roundup: Iran’s Mahram and Saudi Arabia’s Al Ittihad win (Part-2)
Mahram 84 – Al Rayyan 64
Christopher Williams spearheaded Mahram of Iran as they trounced Al Rayyan of Qatar in an 84-64 win on Wednesday, the last day of the preliminary round. With this victory Mahram clinched second position in Group-B after Al Riyadi
Beirut of Lebanon. Mahram outplayed Al Rayyan from the field and three-point range.
Christopher Williams scored a game-high 23 points while Hamed Afagh chipped in with 16 points for Mahram
Mahram put the first points on board and used an early 6-1 run to dominate Al Rayyan. The Qatari’s however pulled back and finished the first frame trailing by 2, at 18-16. With Erfan Ali Saeed hitting the go-ahead shot in 7:42
minute, Al Rayyan gained their first lead of the game, but they blew the opportunity away as they allowed Mahram to come in front again. At the halftime Mahram led Al Rayyan by 40-36.
Mahram’s defence turned on the heat on Al Rayyan in the third quarter and limited them to only 15 points. The two times defending champions scored 22 of their own and took a 62-51 advantage into the final frame. The Iranians completely
knocked the steam out of Al Rayyan’s offense in the fourth, limiting them to game low 13 points as they raced to a 20 point win. Chauncey Leslie was the major contributor for Al Rayyan. He scored 20 points, clutched five rebounds and dished out two assists.
Al Ittihad of Saudi Arabia 98 – WKL Dragons of Malaysia 76
On Wednesday night, Al Ittihad, led by Darren Kelly’s 36 points, four rebounds and five assists sent Malaysia’s WKL Dragons crashing to a 98-76 loss. Al Ittihad finished the preliminary round proceedings with two wins and two loses.
Besides Kelly, Al Ittihad’s other import Serb Vladislav Dragajlovic added 32 points along with 16 boards.
Both the teams made a solid start and maintained a good shooting rate to finish the first 10 minutes with a 25-24 score, advantage Al Ittihad. The Saudi’s however came out with all guns blazing in the second quarter and outscored
Dragons 38-18 to take a 63-42 advantage into the break.
After a second quarter thrashing, the Dragons tightened their defence in the third and allowed only 13 points to Al Ittihad, trimming the deficit down to 17 at its end. Al Ittihad however picked up the pace in the fourth and canned
22 points as compared to 17 by the Dragons and romped to a big win. Shee Fai Loh led Dragons with 19 points.
Quarter-finals
1. Al Riyadi (Libya) vs. Duhok (Iraq)
2. Mahram (Iran) vs. Al Ittihad (Saudi Arab)
3. Smart Gilas Pilipinas (Philippines) vs. Al Jalaa (Syria)
4. ASU (Jordan) vs. Al Rayyan (Qatar)
Tags: