The Cedars face a last-chance match against Spain in the Round of 16 on Wednesday.
After Slovenia (74-58) on Saturday June 24 and the improbable Madagascar (83-66) on Sunday June 25 at the Olah Gabor Arena in Debrecen, Hungary, it was the turn of the United States (122-70) at Debrecen’s Fönix Arena on Tuesday June 27. In their third and final Group B game in the first round of the 2023 Under-19 Basketball World Cup, the Lebanese National Team suffered their third consecutive defeat, and it was a crushing one!
All four periods of the match ended in favor of the United States (Quarter 1: 39-20, Quarter 2: 35-15, Quarter 3: 22-21, Quarter 4: 26-14). The Lebanese held off the Americans in the third quarter alone, with the latter outscoring the former by just a single point. In the end, the United States outscored Lebanon by 52 points (122-70). Lebanon’s Alaa Sabbagh (13 points) was the team’s top scorer, while American Mark Armstrong (17 points) was the game’s top scorer.
Fourth and bottom of their group B (3 points), the Cedars are not yet eliminated from the U19 World Cup in Hungary and will play a last-chance match in the Round of 16 against Spain (top of group A with 6 points) on Wednesday June 28 (time still to be determined). Winning, which seems unlikely against the Spaniards, would allow the Lebanese to qualify for the quarter-finals. On the other hand, losing would mean playing the classification matches.
