Dubai: Former Arab club champions Sharjah stunned Champville of Lebanon 86-72 to book their place for the final of the December 2 International Basketball Tournament that concludes at Al Shabab Club tonight.
Sharjah will face another Lebanese club, Al Riyadhi. in tonight's final.
Champville will take on Al Shabab, who lost to Al Riyadhi last night.
Though coming up against a second string team, Sharjah's win was down to a tremendous team effort with top-scorer Larry Cox leading from the front with a game-high score of 21 points.
‘Pretty good job'
Surprisingly, Sharjah outscored their Lebanese opponents in all four periods of play, and as admitted later by the coach, with the sole intention of avoiding a place in the final against their arch-rivals Al Riyadhi.
"Yes, we wanted to avoid them [Al Riyadhi] in the final, but at the same time I wanted to give my second string side a run out there," Champville coach Gassan Sarkis told Gulf News.
"To their credit, the younger boys did well, especially in their passing and reading of the game, but they lacked the experience to finish off in the end. I think they did a pretty good job and they will continue learning from here on," Sarkis added.
However, the Champville coach also explained that he feared injuries to his main players, more so with the Arab Games scheduled later this month in Doha.
"Five of my players are in the national team going to Doha and it is pointless to put them in such a situation wherein they miss such an important competition," coach Sarkis said. Despite this caution, Mohammad Ebrahim may not be able to travel to Qatar while Lebanon's star player Fadhi Al Khatib drew a minor back injury.
"Our main aim was to keep the margin of victory under 19 points so that we make it for the third place play-off and get an additional match here," Sarkis explained.
RESULTS
Sharjah Club bt Champville Lebanon 86-72
Al Riyadhi bt Al Shabab 98-94
