MANILA, Philippines (22nd FIBA Asia Champions Cup): Al Riyadi Beirut reserved their best for the end and unleashed a 20-9 run in the final ten minutes – including a 8-3 advantage in the Overtime – to beat last year’s runners-up Al Rayyan 78-73 in a needle Group B game on Tuesday. Rodrigue Akl (dark jersey in pic above), on loan from Anibal for this competition, capped a 12-6 Riyadi run in the final five minutes to lock the game at 70-all at the end of Regulation time. And in the extended period, Akl pulled down three of Riyadi’s defensive rebounds to deny Rayyan any extra room. “Am I lucky to have thought of borrowing him!” wondered Riyadi coach Fouad Abouchakra. “In these two games, he (Akl) has been a real worthy,” he added connecting Akl’s contribution to regular point guard Ali Mahmoud’s absence – due to a sore back – in the last two games. “Like yesterday (when Riyadi beat defending champions Mahram 76-73), my team played a lot together. They stood up for each other when chips were down, and I think that was the key to our win today,” he added. Down by six points – by 9 at one point in time in the second quarter – Riyadi did more than well to hold their own. “We missed out on their offensive rebounds,” bemoaned Rayyan coach Brian Rowsom. Riyadi had a 21-13 offense rebound advantage – in an overall 50-37 boards.
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