Sport | Basketball
Gritty Saudi Arabia edge out Kuwait in a thrilling encounter
Saudi Arabia defeated Kuwait 72-71 in a tough encounter in the 11th GCC basketball tournament at Sharjah Indoor Sports Hall on Monday night.
- By Sayed Ali, Staff Reporter
- Published: 00:13 August 22, 2007
- Image Credit: Atiq-Ur-rehman/Gulf News
- Defending champions Bahrain and Qatar fight it out during their match in the GCC championship.
Dubai: Saudi Arabia defeated Kuwait 72-71 in a tough encounter in the 11th GCC basketball tournament at Sharjah Indoor Sports Hall on Monday night.
The match the best played in the tournament so far. Until the last seconds of the fourth quarter, no one could say who will win with the scores fluctuating.
The win put Saudi Arabia on top of the standing with four points from two wins.
They had beaten defending champions Bahrain on the opening day.
Kuwait have one point from one match (tournament's regulations give the winners two points and the loser one point).
In an early match, defending champions Bahrain compensated their first defeat by Saudi Arabia, by crushing Qatar 95-43 in a match dominated by the Bahraini players.
The match was a one-sided affair. The tall Bahraini players didn't let the match slip from their grip in all the four quarters.
They led in the first quarter 29-12; the second 52-27 and in the third 73-36.
They finished winners with more than the double score 95-43. Bahrain have three points from two matches and Qatar logged two points from two defeats.
The Qatari team lost the services of five key players before the GCC tournament began. The difference was clear between the tall Bahraini players and the young and short Qataris.
Qatar's coach said they are building a new team for the future and not looking to the results of the current tournament.
In the Saudi Arabia - Kuwait match, the Kuwaitis led in the first quarter with 19-15. Swift moves by Abdullah Al Shemmary and Ahmad Al Fadhly allowed them to threaten the Saudi defence under their basket for most of the first quarter.
The Saudis tried hard in the second quarter. They levelled on many occasions with good efforts by Ayoub Hawsawy, Hasan Suliman and Faisal Al Dossary. The second quarter, however, finished in the favour of the Kuwaitis 41-37.
Saudi Arabia began to press hard against the Kuwaiti basket until they succeeded in levelling the score and advance 45-44 at the beginning of the third quarter.
The two teams levelled 50-50. The Saudis lost many scoring opportunities due to inaccurate shooting towards the Kuwaiti basket. Kuwait benefited from it with rapid fast breaks through Hussain Al Sayed and Naif Al Sandaly.
The Saudis recovered in the last minutes of the third quarter through Hawsawi, Hani Mohammad. They did well to lead 61-54 at the end of the third quarter.
The Saudis were not scoring from the three pointers, while the Kuwaitis did. The fourth quarter was a thriller with the two teams levelling the score many times.
The first and only three point scored for the Saudis by Faisal Al Dossary which put them on the lead 65-62. Kuwait levelled 71-71 and the Saudis got a two-throw with three seconds left. Ayman Al Mowalad scored one and lost the second to give his team a valuable win at 72-71.
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