Dubai: Morocco dug in deep for a comfortable 73-60 win over Japan in the Eighth Fazza International Wheelchair Basketball Tournament that concluded at the Al Ahli Club’s indoor hall late on Thursday.

Morocco mounted a dual assault under the basket through Zouhair Challat (21 points) and competition top-scorer Aissa Falempe (20) that eventually helped neutralise the brilliant individual effort of 33 points from Japan’s Naohiro Murakami.

Earlier, Great Britain rode on a fine effort from Billy Bridge (18) and Ben Fox (17) to make their way past Thailand 53-52 in a tense overtime to claim the bronze medal. Leading the charge for Thailand was Aekkasit Jumjarean with a game-high 22 points after the match was tied at 48-48 at the end of the regulation 40 minutes.

“We are, of course, very happy to have won the final of this tournament and it all boiled down to our greater level of experience,” Moroccan captain Abdelhak Al Hadaoui said after the final.

“Japan is a really strong team and they played very well, but it must also be remembered that they are young and we have a little bit more experience. We have seven players who play in Europe with teams in France, Spain and Turkey and that made all the difference in the end,” he added.

Japan coach Kazuyuki Kyoya said: “Our young players have used this opportunity to improve a lot and I’m happy about that development and progression at this tournament. I’m satisfied with our very good offensive skills, but I’m more concerned about the defence as we conceded more than 70 points and that is a problem we have to look at and rectify.”

“I’m obviously a little bit disappointed to have lost in the final as we wanted to win the gold, but the good thing is that we’ve seen through this experience what we need to work on in the future.”

Meanwhile, the UAE finished fifth with a 55-51 win over Saudi Arabia, thanks to stellar contributions from Tariq Al Yassi (20) and Mohammad Al Zarouni (18). In another match, Marlon Nacita’s fortuitous hook shot saw a plucky Philippines edge out Kuwait 71-70 for seventh place.

The Eighth Fazza Wheelchair Basketball was held under the patronage of Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Sports Council, and was organised and supervised by the Dubai Club for the Disabled (DCD).

RESULTS:

Knockout Stages: UAE bt Kuwait 85-65; Saudi Arabia bt Philippines 68-48; Japan bt Great Britain 59-52 (OT); Morocco bt Thailand 67-62.

Seventh-Eighth Place: Philippines bt Kuwait 71-70

Fifth-Sixth Place: UAE bt Saudi Arabia 55-51

Bronze Medal: Great Britain bt Thailand 53-52

Final: Morocco bt Japan 73-60