FIBA Asia Champions Cup Finals Set

The FIBA Asia Champions Cup Finals are set for Monday, Oct. 22nd in Beirut, Lebanon and it’ll be a repeat of the 2011 Finals with Al Riyadi squaring off with Mahram Tehran. It will be the fourth consecutive finals appearance for Mahram, who has won the Cup twice prior and the second consecutive trip for Al Riyadi, who won in 2011.

The Finals have been moved to Monday in view of the National Mourning in Lebanon in wake of the recent car bombing in Beirut. Officials have said the bombing left three people dead, which is down from the original estimate of eight. More than 80 people were wounded in a blast that devastated a popular and busy area of Beirut.

Mahram Tehran (IRI) – Duhok (IRQ) 93:76
Mahram, the reigning WABA League Champions, are heading back to the FIBA Asia Champions Cup Finals with a 93:76 victory over Duhok, Iran.

The two squads played even basketball through the first quarter, with Mahram building a five-point margin early on, but Duhok countering and pulling back to take a one-point lead into the second frame, 18:19.

Duhok got up by as much as six points in the second quarter, but an 11:1 scoring run by the Iranians put them up 34:30 with 2:59 left in the half. At the buzzer Mahram held a nine-point advantage, 47:38.

Mahram was able to extend their advantage to 16 in the second quarter, before settling with a 12-point margin heading into the final 10, 69:57.

Duhok put together a 2:11 scoring run mid-way through the frame to cut a 17-point deficit to eight with 2:33 to play, but that was the last time they found the bottom of the cords and Mahram tallied the final nine points to secure their place in the finals, 93:76.

Mahdi Kamrani let the way for Mahram with 25 points, Nikkhad Samad added 19, Ratko Varda contributed 17, and Hamed Afagh dropped in 13.

Duhok got 17 from Kendell James Dartez, Antonio Joe Web and Ali Muayad Ismeal dropped in 13 each, and Jenero Gorgiss contributed 12 to the loss.

Al Riyadi (LIB) – Belent Asgabat (TKM) 116-65
The host club from Al Riyadi wasted no time punching their ticket to the FIBA Asia Champions Cup when the jumped out to a 17-0 lead in the first quarter of their semi-final match up with the Belent Asbabat squad from Turkmenistan. The returning champions will face Mahram in the finals, a team they beat in the pool play on Friday, 88:63.

The highlight of the contest was Amir Saoud’s 45 points, going 17 for 25 (68%) from inside the arc, and 8 for 15 (53%) outside the arc. Omar El Turk and Wael Arakji added 12 points for the hosts. Of note, every member of the Al Riyadi team that saw court time scored at least four points.

Belent Asbagat got 16 points from Aleksandr Kozlov and 16 from Begench Akmammedov in the loss.