Dubai: Barako Bull were the only team with a perfect record going into the knockout rounds of the second Al Shabab Basketball Championship following the final group stage matches on Tuesday night.
That meant the side from the Philippines topped Group B, while hosts Al Shabab topped Group A after hammering amateur side University of Sharjah 97-79 on Tuesday.
Later in the night, Hoops from Lebanon suffered their first defeat when they went down 91-83 against Kuwait’s Al Sahel, who secured second spot in Group A.
Hosts Al Shabab were due to play winless Team Unity from the US, while Hoops were to face Zamalek of Egypt in Wednesday night’s quarter-finals. Thursday’s last-eight action will see Al Sahel play Al Ahli of Libya and Barako Bull up against University of Sharjah.
The two semi-finals will be played on Friday, with the third place play-off and the final scheduled for Saturday.
On Tuesday, Al Shabab did well to neutralise the presence of University of Sharjah’s French player Olivier Lamoureux, stopping him scoring even once in the opening period as the hosts powered to a 34-19 lead, with Joseph Taylor scoring 15 points.
In the second period, UOS fought well and managed to cut the difference to six points at 41-35, but that was the best they could manage as Al Shabab went in at half-time 53-41 ahead, with Leslie Chauncey drifting in a couple of three-pointers.
In the night’s second match, Hoops were unable to maintain their perfect record as they were beaten by Al Sahel. The closest the Lebaense came was in the final period, with Carey Williams and Hassan Laqes taking them to within three points.
But the Kuwaitis stepped up their game with the help of Abdullah Al Shammari to win comfortably in the end.
In the third match, Zamalek of Egypt handed down a third consecutive defeat to Team Unity 78-72 to cement third place in Group B. The second-string Egyptian side led 26-16 at the end of the opening period and 54-30 at half-time. Team Unity pulled to within 17 at 69-52 at the end of the third and a brave final-period effort wasn’t enough.
The week-long tournament is being held under the patronage of Shaikh Mansour Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, with sponsorship from Cars Vehicle Testing Centre, Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) and American University in the Emirates.
