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As Beirut (11 wins, 5 losses) met with Riyadi (14 wins, 2 losses) on the night of March 24, this game was considered to be pivotal in the regular season, with both teams competing for the top spot in the Lebanese Basketball Championship. While Beirut had the home court advantage, Riyadi was up for a big challenge.
After two consecutive and unfortunate losses in the championship, Beirut looked to bounce back and take on the league leaders to stay within the top three, and potentially end up first at the end of the season. As for Riyadi, they were looking to reach their 20th win in a row across all competitions and guarantee themselves the top spot in the league. A win would be crucial for Beirut, because it would secure a top three position for them, thus avoiding Riyadi in the playoffs.
This highly anticipated game ended up with a Beirut win with a score of 93-83. After a strong defensive display from Beirut and dominant performance in the paint, the home team secured a well deserved spot in the top three of the championship.
In this important game, coach Joe Ghattas went for this starting lineup: Darwish, Mezher, Alexander, Haidar and Tucker. Riyadi’s team kicked off the game with Kikanovic, Gyokchyan, Arakji, Zeinoun and Harris on the floor.
The Match Film
The game witnessed a strong start from Beirut as they went 8-0 in the first minutes. As Riyadi gradually gained back their composure by cutting into Beirut’s lead, the home team maintained their advantage. The first half of this quarter saw a well-organised Beirut team going against an impatient Riyadi that struggled to score. However, after two consecutive three-pointers by Zeinoun, the league leaders found their rhythm and made it a close game. Towards the end of the quarter, Beirut found a way to extend their lead to 5 points (24-19).
Going into the second quarter, Beirut had the slight advantage over Riyadi, who were not performing up to their usual standards. The second quarter saw Riyadi fight back and improve on the offensive end. Halfway through the quarter, the teams looked to be evenly matched, as any of the two could take the win. Throughout the quarter, Beirut’s lead was threatened many times but eventually extended to 7 points (47-40).
While Beirut was holding on to a narrow but crucial lead, Riyadi had to minimise their fouls to see this game out. In any case, this game was halfway completed with the final outcome of the game still hard to predict.
Beirut had a strong start to the third quarter as they extended their lead to 10 points after an efficient display on the offensive end. Halfway through the quarter, this same 7 point lead was maintained by Beirut who stayed consistent. As the home team focused on their big men in the paint and drawing shooting fouls, they were able to maintain an upper hand on Riyadi. By the end of the quarter, Beirut had managed to append their lead to 11 pivotal points (71-60).
The fourth quarter saw Riyadi concede multiple turnovers in the starting minutes which helped Beirut get a 13 point difference in their favor. With Beirut accelerating with the victory to secure a top 3 spot in the championship, everything was all but done. With three minutes to go, the lead was cut to 9 points at the lowest, then extended to 16 to finally put Riyadi at bay.
In this context, Beirut was able to stop Riyadi’s impressive winning streak and bounce back after two losses, in order to gain back confidence and composure to compete in the upcoming playoffs.
