Lebanon’s bright spot: win at hoops worlds

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Lebanon’s bright spot: win at hoops worlds
El Khatib scores 35 in upset win of Venezuela in tournament opener

HIROSHIMA, Japan - Fadi El Khatib scored 35 points as an inspired Lebanon began the world basketball championship with an 82-72 upset win over Venezuela on Saturday, giving the war-torn country reason to celebrate.

“We have a lot of motivation and are here to represent the Lebanese people,” El Khatib told reporters in Sendai.

“We knew we were going to have a tough challenge against a team like Venezuela but we were well prepared mentally and physically.”

Reaching the championship was a victory in itself for Lebanese players, their route taking them through bombed-out villages into Syria as fighting between Israel and Hezbollah began to escalate.

Following the recent cease-fire the team was able to focus on the tournament and it was their first world championship victory after losing all five contests in 2002.

Trailing 40-36 at the intermission, Lebanon rallied behind a rampaging El Khatib, who hit 27 second-half points including 16 in the final quarter.

El Khatib, considered the second best player in Asia after China’s Yao Ming, was backed up by a 26-point performance from Joseph Vogel. No other Lebanese player reached double figures.

“Venezuela did a very good job on him (El Khatib) in the first half, keeping him in check and denying him the ball,” said Lebanon’s American coach Paul Coughter.

“But in the second half they lost a bit of their intensity and we were able to play a more up tempo style of basketball.

“That’s the kind of game that fits Fadi the most and he certainly did showed that as he got us back into the game and in a position to win.”
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