Egypt-Marogong wins 2nd Prince Talal Ramadan Cup

Egypt-Marogong played smart basketball to overcome the Jeddah United (Lebanese Selection) with a bigger and taller lineup and score a decisive 82-68 victory Thursday night in the final match of the 2nd Prince Talal Mansour Abdulaziz Al Saud Ramadan Cup basketball tournament at Al-Ittihad Club stadium.
Using speed and quickness Egypt-Marogong, a team of Egyptian and Filipino select players put together by manager and team captain Waleed Khattab, wrested momentum from Jeddah United in the third quarter and never looked back to put away the victory before a sizeable crowd of Filipino basketball enthusiasts.
The Lebanese under the stewardship of Nadeem Sultani were in control in the first two quarters and most of the third with strong inside plays and perimeter shooting by Abdulaziz Al Zahrani.
The complexion of the game suddenly changed when Egypt-Marogong tied it up at 44 with 4:44 to play in the third quarter and then uncorked a 19-9 blast featuring pinpoint passing plays by Robby David to Morsie Akad and Joseph Ubalde, ending the period at 63-53 to Marogong.
“We just stayed patient. I knew Jeddah United will begin to tire in the third quarter and that was when I told my boys to play trapping defense,” said Egypt-Marogong coach Boy Corsega.
Egyptian behemoth, 6-foot-8 Kaidar Hendawi, patrolled the paint with authority and the cat-quick former Purefoods PBA player Boyet Bautista showed his wealth of experience and played well in the game especially in the fourth period.
Back-to-back threes by Akad and Bautista and another Bautista fastbreak had Egypt Marogong taking its biggest lead of the game at 17 points, 78-61, with 3:30 to play.
After a three-pointer by Jedah United David responded with a driving layup for Marogong 80-64 that all but settled the outcome going into the last two minutes.
Bautista, who was named the tournament Most Valuable Player, finished the night with 22 points, the high-leaping Akad had 20, David netted 16 markers while Best Player of the game Hendawi added 12 points for Egypt-Marogong team which is a collaboration between Khattab and MGI (Marogong Global Incoporated) officials Acmad Dimaporo and Seraj Abdulhammid.
Fadi Kayami and Mahmoud Zoraic scored 12 and 10 points for Jeddah United.
Egypt-Marogong and Jeddah United arranged the knockout title game by beating Ittihad and Al-Ahli respectively during the semifinals Tuesday night in the tournament that began with 8 teams and organized by Mohammad Khamis, a former player of the Saudi national basketball team.
Trophies and medals were awarded to the first three winners during the awards ceremony after the game.
Among the guests that attended Thursday night’s game were representative of Prince Talal, officials from Saudi Basketball Federation, former national players, Mohamad Bayoumi, a friend of the Filipino community, and Obaid Madani, founder of Jeddah United Sports Company.