By MARK REY. MONTEJO
A clutch buzzer-beating triple from 47-year-old Lebanese forward Ismail Ahmed Abdelmoneim of Al Riyadi Lebanon broke the hearts of the Strong Group Athletics, 77-74, in the final round of the 2024 Dubai International Basketball Championship in the wee hours of Monday, Jan. 29 at the Al Nasr Club.
The veteran Abdelmoneim came up huge in the waning seconds as he drilled the big trey off a kick out pass from Lebanese star Wael Arakji that served as a coup de grace and shattered the Filipino’s hopes of winning the title which was last done four years ago.
Mighty Sports did the country proud in 2020 by winning the event undefeated. Owned by the family of Wongchuking, Mighty Sports defeated Al Riyadi of Lebanon, 92-81, to become the first club team outside of Middle East to win the prestigious event.
Abdelmoneim registered 10 points – none bigger than the booming trey that left the flock of overseas Filipino Workers in deafening silence inside the venue.
Gabriel Harries topscored with 23 points while Wael Arakji backed him up with 16 to reaffirm their mastery over SGA after also booting the Philippine team for the second-straight year.
Andre Roberson led the way with 23 points and 13 rebounds while Dwight Howard had 18 points and 12 boards.
Their efforts however were not enough as young stars Kevin Quiambao, Francis Escandor and Justine Baltazar went scoreless in the final.
The Philippine side actually made a huge run in the second half, erasing a once 19 point deficit in the third frame behind the efforts of Andre Roberson and Jordan Heading.
The two spearheaded a 25-8 blitz which cut the deficit to just two, 59-61, early in the final frame. Back-to-back long bombs from the two even gave SGA the lead before Al Riyadi retaliated and kept a 72-67 cushion.
Dwight Howard and Robinson kept the PH side within striking distance before Heading buried a huge trey that tied the count 74-all.
That, however, set the table to Abdelmoneim’s heroics at the buzzer.
