The Lebanese team put the brakes on Angola, who were tired after the match against Spain, with their outside shooting and their decision-making. Despite coming back after the break to lead the Asians by eleven points, they were unable to finish the job in the last quarter and ended up losing 70-74.
The Asian team, with former NBA player Omari Spellman as a reference, will face this Saturday in the semi-finals of the pre-Olympic tournament in Valencia against the Bahamas of Eric Gordon, Buddy Hield and DeAndre Ayton after surprising Angola in a match in which the Africans came out without the defensive toughness of Wednesday and without a clear direction, and when they were close to completing the comeback they found the points of guard Karim Zeinoun.
Pep Clarós’ team, who gave Spain a scare in the first half on Wednesday, limited themselves to trying their luck from beyond the three-point line, but found that the Lebanese team was right on target in that aspect, with Omari Spellman on fire from the start.
With his help and the help of guard Sergio El Darwich, Lebanon started the match much more in tune (8-17, m.7) against a rival that showed that the physical effort against Spain had taken its toll. Angola did not look for inside balls and preferred the three-point shot, sometimes without much conviction, rather than finding the advantage in the post after a few seconds (13-19).
Lacking success from outside and inconsistency inside, Angola suffered in the second quarter under the young forward Youssef Khayat, who was the perfect squire for Spellman to continue increasing the lead (24-35). Lebanon was much better at choosing and thus went to the locker room, with a four of nine from the perimeter, compared to Angola’s poor four of 21.
But the return to the court of center Jilson Bango, recently signed by Casademont Zaragoza, shook up Angola and with seven points in just a couple of minutes the African team reacted with a 13-2 run that tied the game twenty-five minutes later (37-37, m.25).
These were Angola’s best moments, with Bango and Fernando on the court defending much better and, above all, moving better in attack to propose more meaningful plays, although they could not get away from Lebanon. Angola tried everything, taking advantage in the low post, although Lebanon, always with an omnipresent Spellman – who finished with 22 points – remained on the lookout (45-44).
With ten minutes to go and everything still to be decided, the Africans collapsed and Karim Zeinoun ‘dressed’ as a hero with a couple of recoveries that ended in a tray and a triple on the possession buzzer that put the Asians eleven ahead (56-67, m.35).
Silvio De Sousa’s inside power brought the Angolans closer again (62-67, m.38), but his poor decisions in attack left the double African reaction unrewarded, first in the third quarter and then in the last.
Datasheet
Angola-Lebanon, 70-74
70 – Angola (13+11+21+25): Dundao (7), Miguel (3), Francisco (-), Fernando (12), Bango (11) – starting five – Neto (-), Gonçalves (13), Fernandes (2), Gakou (8), De Sousa (10), Macachi (-), Pereira (4).
74 – Lebanon (19+16+9+30): Mezher (-), El Darwich (14), Khayat (9), Spellman (22), Haidar (9) -five initials-, Saoud (-), Zeinoun ( 15), Khalil (1), Mansour (-), Ezzedine (-), Gyokchyan (2), Hadidian (2).
Referees: Martins Korzlovskis (LAT), Juan Fernández (ARG), Boris Krejic (SLO). They eliminated Mansour (m.37) and Haidar (m.39).
Incidents: Third and final match of Group A of the pre-Olympic tournament in Valencia, made up of Spain, Lebanon and Angola, played in the Fonteta pavilion in front of 805 spectators.
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2024-07-04 21:07:56
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