Pilipinas Beton beat Lebanon QCAVS 96-89 in the finals of the first ever SBP-PIBAQ Inter Nations Basketball League at the Al Gharafa Stadium.
The QCAVS were without their potent scorer, Ahmed Takesh, while Beton missed the services of their court director, Ronnie Cajayon, and shooter, Eric Tamayo.
Lebanon QCAVS began strong with skipper Amer Anouti attacking the basket at every opportunity.
This caught Pilipinas Beton by surprise as they fell by 16 early in the first quarter. With the height advantage in Lebanon’s favour, the Filipinos were frustrated as all their attempts were heavily contested.
In the second quarter, Pilipinas Beton were composed, patiently moving the ball to find open shots. Kemuel Proceso drained a couple of three-pointers to start a 12-2 run. With three seconds remaining in the second quarter and Lebanon still leading by 6, Nino Gelig made a buzzer-beating three to halve the deficit at the half.
A minute into the second half, Beton tasted lead for the first time, with Proceso increasing the lead to 6 with a three-pointer. However, a fall on his back meant that he had to be taken to the hospital for treatment.
But Beton surged forward as their lead reached double figures early in the fourth. Lebanon QCAVS called a timeout to weather the storm as they steadily trimmed the lead to three.
In the ensuing play, Lebanon’s towering center, Marwan Suleiman hurt his knee on a loose ball scramble.
This enabled Pilipinas to attack inside the paint, but Lebanon launched an 8-0 run which brought them within 2 with five minutes to go.
After Lebanon’s George Mandaly fired triple three-pointers, Beton followed them up with a triple by Tristan Cristobal and mid-range jumpers by Jayson Tiongson as they secured the 96-89 win.
Tiongson top-scored for Beton with 19 points and was chosen the Finals MVP. Mandaly paced the QCAVS with his game-high 31 markers.
Individual awards were given at the end of the game and the Mythical Five awardees were Andrija Stojancev of Qavana Adriatic, Roy Awwad of Lebanon Sharks, Gelig of Pilipinas Beton, Takesh and Mandaly of Lebanon QCAVS.
Gelig was adjudged as the Conference MVP while Qavana Adriatic’s Albin Pjanic was the Most Defensive Player of the Conference. The Best Coach of the Conference was awarded to Renato Dinglasan of Pilipinas Beton.
The SBP-PIBAQ Inter Nations Basketball League was organised in cooperation with Qatar Basketball Federation, the Philippine Embassy in Qatar and the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas Inc.
PIBAQ’s 25th Conference is sponsored by Ooredoo, McDonald’s, Philippine Airlines, Happy Journey Travels and Season Restaurant, with FilipiKnows as PIBAQ’s media partner.
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