20 Feb.2017- Sagesse went into this game with some “non-chalence” having played a tough game the day before against Mighty Sport and awaiting their crucial clash against the Egyptian national team. Coach Fouad Abou Chacra rested his star players as a win against the Egyptians is a must to qualify for the semis.
The game started off slowly as both teams gave little importance to this game. Nonetheless, Ali Haidar was ready to ball. He blocked Sagesse’s player on 4 different occasions limiting their movements under the rim. Amir Saoud’s introduction gave a huge boost to the yellows as they ended the quarter up 17-12.
In the second quarter, Riyadi clicked into gear and showed why they are the team to beat. They played that fast tempo offense that Sagesse’s defense can’t handle. Amir Saoud and Wael Arakji ran the floor greatly and with Ken Brown backing them up, they were on fire. They gap kept on getting bigger till Patrick Bou Abboud scored few consecutive shots to finish the half trailing 36-32.
Same old same old in the third quarter as they pounded the greens early down low with many offensive rebounds. Sagesse were able to stay in the game with some go-to buckets from Patrick and a corner three from Bashir to cut the lead to 1. Soon after Ali Haidar and Wael Arakji took control of the game to score 4 consecutive buckets. Riyadi maintained their lead till the end of the q, 62-55.
In the last quarter, both teams shared buckets but some crucial plays from Ismael Ahmad and Branko put Riyadi in the clear as Mohammad Ibrahim’s effort were too little too late. Sagesse fall to a 74-85 defeat. Sagesse can’t but take positive things from this game as all their players fought valiantly and the Lebanese players showed their real worth.
The post Stoglin-less Sagesse Suffer Their First Loss Against Riyadi appeared first on Sports 961.