Hoops and Al Shabab enter final

Dubai: Coach Omar Hassino’s timely player change helped Hoops of Lebanon upset crowd favourites Barako Bull from the Philippines and set up a meeting against hosts Al Shabab in the final of the second Al Shabab Basketball Championship here late on Friday.

Coming into the semi-finals with an unblemished record of four victories out of four, Hassino’s introduction of Hussain Toba proved crucial, as he went on to score all his eight points in the final quarter to help the Lebanese win 91-80.

In the earlier semi-final, the hosts had lived up to expectations with a nervy 94-87 win over Al Sahel of Kuwait, with Rashid Al Za’abi top-scoring with 24 points.

In the second match, Hoops clung on to a slender 27-26 lead at the end of the opening quarter, only to see Barako Bull bounce right back to lead by six 51-47 at half-time.

However, Barako Bull player Daniel Seigle’s clash with Carey Williams put the Filipinos on the back foot and the Hoops went clear by five points 70-65.

Coach’s trump card

The Filipinos refused to yield as Douglas Kramer stole a basket with a charity shot to draw level 70-70. However, coach Hassino had an ace up his sleeve as he introduced Toba, and it was his eight points that separated the two teams (72-80) with fewer than five minutes left until the final whistle. The Lebanese kept up the pressure to wrap up things, with Williams top-scoring with 31 points while Harold Jamieson contributed 21.

“The key to the match was I knew how to use my guns,” said coach Hassino. “We changed the philosophy a bit for tonight so that we could counter the Filipino team, and we did well to control the tempo of the match from the start,” he added.

The earlier semi-final was a contrast of sorts, with the hosts keeping a firm grip on proceedings to seal their place in the final.

After trailing the hosts for much of the match, Al Sahel equalised for the first time with 1.03 minutes left in the third quarter at 70-70 and then opened up a two-point cushion following a couple of charities from top-scorer Abdullah Al Shammari.

However, Al Shabab increased their lead to 79-72 with 6.14 minutes remaining in the final period and did not look back from then on. Christopher Burgess scored a couple of triples to help earn the hosts a 94-87 win and a place in the final.