Dubai: A last-gasp free throw from Nabil Saleh handed Jordan’s Al Riyadi a narrow 41-40 win over Dubai’s Al Shabab in the second group game of the second Dubai International Junior Basketball Championship at American University Dubai on Sunday.
The point guard was fouled in defence as Al Shabab went in search of a winner but he turned a hero from the free throw line — snatching victory with four seconds remaining.
Al Riyadi won the first quarter 12-8 and still led 20-17 overall at half-time, despite Al Shabab edging the second quarter 9-8. By the third quarter, Al Shabab had pulled ahead scoring 18-10 to total a 35-30 lead, but in the final quarter Al Riyadi fought back to win 11-5.
Al Riyadi’s secretary general Fadi Sabah said: “It was an ugly win but we are satisfied with the result.
“Our players should have played harder. They came into the game relaxed and after establishing a good lead they then felt at ease. Luckily they played harder in the last two quarters when they most needed to. But we should have won by much more than that. It was a lucky last few seconds.”
It was Al Riyadi’s second win in the group following their 47-28 victory over Al Wasl on Saturday. The Jordanians now play Serbia’s Partizan Belgrade from 7pm on Monday.
“Partizan are on a level by themselves,” added Sabah. “Then there is us, Bayern Munich and Al Ahly of Egypt. We finished fifth last year but now we will be looking to make the final four. This experience will enable us to go back to Jordan with an advantage over other Jordanian sides.”
Al Shabab coach Houssam Al Wakeel said: “We made some bad decisions at a critical time but we will learn and take lessons from this game.
“Al Riyadi are much bigger, more experienced and play at a higher level than us, so overall we should feel satisfied with this performance.
“Our main target is to prepare the team, who are in their first year in the junior side. They will get benefits from playing in this tournament, after that if we can get a few good results it will be a bonus.”
This tournament sees two groups of four battle it out for quarter-final seedings until Monday, after which the last eight will see first in Group A play fourth in Group B and so on. Overseas sides are aged Under-16 while the local teams are Under-18.
