The UAE basketball team achieved a significant victory over the Indonesian Olympic team, winning 86-74 in their final match at the international tournament hosted by Indonesia, which featured four teams. The UAE stars learned from their previous lesson, where they lost in the final quarter against the senior Indonesian team, despite leading throughout the first three quarters. Notably, the UAE team shone in the final quarter against the Olympic team, whether from beyond the arc or inside the paint, successfully turning a one-point deficit at the end of the third quarter into a 12-point victory.
The UAE team took the lead in the first quarter, finishing it 20-16 in their favor. However, their performance dipped in the second quarter due to repeated fouls and hasty attempts from beyond the arc, allowing the home team to assert their control and take a 13-point lead before the end of the half. The UAE team managed to narrow the gap to 8 points (40-32) at the end of the first half. The third quarter was a back-and-forth contest, ending with the Indonesian Olympic team leading 59-58 until the UAE team established their rhythm, thanks to the outstanding performance of Qais Omar, who was the top scorer with 26 points, along with Hamad Abdul Latif, Omar Khalid, Rashid Al Zaabi, and captain Jassim Mohammed.
The UAE team made 9 three-point attempts out of 27, achieving a success rate of 33%, compared to 5 successful attempts for the Indonesian team out of 17 tries. Additionally, our team excelled in rebounding, recording 39 rebounds (27 defensively) compared to 34 for the Olympic team (23 defensively).
On another note, head coach Munir Bin Habib praised the players for their performance and their commitment to representing UAE basketball honorably in this international tournament, which is considered an important stop before entering the Asian final phase scheduled for this year. Rashid Al Naqbi, the team manager, also commended the players for their performance and for successfully overcoming the mistakes made in the previous match against the senior Indonesian team.
The delegation will return to Abu Dhabi International Airport at 10:30 PM tomorrow, Sunday, and the team will resume training in preparation for their match against the Egyptian team in the UAE on the 10th of this month, after which they will depart for Taiwan to participate in the William Jones International Tournament.
