Dubai: Rashid Azar outscored all with 22 points, but it was not enough as visiting Barcelona played an all-round game to defeat Al Shabab 58-33 and became the last team to enter the semi-finals of the inaugural Dubai International Junior Basketball at the American University in Dubai (AUD) late on Friday.
Azar’s game-high included six converted free throws, two blocks, seven rebounds and an assist. But his contribution counted for little as Josep Alessandro’s 13 points and Guillem Fabregas’s 11 were enough to see the Catalans home after leading 28-19 at half-time.
Barcelona will now meet pre-tournament favourites Partizan Belgrade, while Al Nasr will take on Sharjah Club in the two semi-finals that had to be kept on hold following the sudden demise of Shaikh Rashid Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum on Saturday.
Barcelona coach Xavi Pardina was pleased with the way his young side responded to the early challenge posed by Al Shabab when they leveled the scores 13-13 in the second quarter. “This has been a perfect preparatory tournament for our team. We liked the way in which the entire side responded after Al Shabab had matched us early in the second period. This is the sort of dedication I am looking forward to as we line up against the toughest team [Partizan] in the tournament,” Pardina told Gulf News.
“If we stick to our plan and play the way we are supposed to then I do not see any reason why we cannot secure a win against them [Partizan]. We have tried hard in each match, but in the semi-finals we simply need to try even harder,” he added.
In the earlier quarter-finals, Partizan stamped their class as the team to beat, with an emphatic 85-38 win over Al Ahli, while Sharjah and Al Nasr booked their spots in the last four stages with 48-24 and 43-27 wins over Al Wasl and Al Riyadi, Jordan, respectively.
