BEIRUT: Riyadi survived a scare to beat bottom-side Hoops 78-72 and reclaim top spot from archrivals Sagesse during round 16 of the Lebanese Basketball League at Murr Stadium Wednesday.
Surprisingly, Hoops led for large parts of the game as they made the most of the absence of Ismail Ahmad. The veteran Egyptian was rested for the day with new addition American Rodney Carney set to make his debut Wednesday. However, Carney, a former NBA player, suffered a muscle strain and could not feature.
Though a win would have been enough for Riyadi to regain first place, the yellow side seemed powerless against a team who hadn’t won since mid-February, and were only 1-14.
Hoops impressed with their fast-paced game, earning a 34-28 lead with two minutes left in the second, before Slobodan Subotic’s side rallied to a 35-34 halftime advantage.
Riyadi remained rudderless without talisman Ahmad, as Hoops continued to attack with impressive fighting spirit and teamwork as they led 47-38 with an upset on the cards.
However, Riyadi regrouped, with Roy Samaha doing fine work under the basket, while Ali Haidar and Amir Saoud were active from beyond the arc.
After tying the score at 52 before the fourth, Riyadi waited until the last two minutes to ensure their hard-fought victory 78-72.
With their win, Riyadi are now first at 12-4 ahead of Sagesse in second on head-to-head advantage. Meanwhile, Hoops are still rooted to the bottom at 1-15.
Haidar led the scoring for Riyadi with 17 points and five rebounds, while Saoud sunk 15 points coming off the bench. Jean Abdelnour had 13 points and 10 rebounds while Loren Woods and Samaha added 10 points each.
American point guard Brandon Johnson top scored for Hoops with 16 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, while Hussein Tawbe added 14 points and seven rebounds. Palestinian center Sani Sakakini added 13 points and 11 rebounds.
Elsewhere, Homenetmen will look to extend their impressive winning streak to seven when they visit Amchit at Jbeil Thursday.
The Armenian side have been unstoppable in the second leg, having recorded six consecutive victories, to see them move from eighth place to sixth at 8-7.
Meanwhile, Amchit, who hold the longest winning streak in the league this season at eight, have been in a slump recently, after two losses on the bounce against Mouttahed and Riyadi to surrender first place. They are still in the race for first place as a win would move them into a three-way tie with Riyadi and Sagesse.
The Daily Star