UAE Team Loses to Indonesia

The UAE basketball team lost to their Indonesian counterpart (66-62) in their second match of the Indonesia International Tournament, in front of a large crowd. The team paid the price for mistakes in the final quarter due to turnovers and hasty shots from beyond the arc, which facilitated the home team's success, bolstered by four American players, to equalize and secure the victory by a four-point margin after the UAE team led in the first three quarters with scores of 15/20, 37/42, and 50/52. However, the Indonesian team turned the game around in the final quarter by capitalizing on mistakes and fast breaks, scoring 16 points in that quarter compared to 10 for the UAE team, which committed 23 turnovers, a high ratio compared to 14 for the hosts. As usual, the UAE team’s star player topped the scoring chart with 17 points, just one point ahead of the American naturalized player Marcus. Meanwhile, Hamid Abdul Latif scored 13 points, and both Jasem Mohammed and Mahmoud Waseem added 6 points each, along with 4 points from Nasser Al Zaabi. The team manager, Rashid Al Naqbi, stated that the mistakes in the final quarter led to the loss, noting that “it could have been better than it was,” expressing hope for redemption in the final match against the Indonesian Olympic team.