JEDDAH, 29 July 2005 — Algeria completed their unbeaten run to the title with a workmanlike 89-62 victory over Morocco in the final last night in the 16th Arab Basketball Championship at the General Presidency of Youth Welfare hall here.
Algeria jumped out to a 17-4 lead and never looked back in a high level performance that has been their hallmark since the 11-day tournament began.
And when the fighting Morocco gave some semblance of a fight, Algeria took care of business en route to their seventh straight victory.
Earlier, Jordan used a hot fourth quarter to score a come-from-behind 69-66 victory over Tunisia in the game for third and fourth places.
Jordan waxed hot and knocked down three three-pointers in the fourth quarter to catch Tunisia and go on to win the game.
Tunisia led 41-31 at the end of the first half and looked to go all the way with a 57-48 lead when the third quarter ended.
But Jordan had other ideas and worked behind a good offense. They shot 51% from the floor and pulled down 39 rebounds compared to Tunisia’s 42% and 30 boards.
Zaid Abbas and Ayman Dies scored 20 and 17 points respectively for Jordan. Hosni Bin Naser with 16 and Omar Bin Mohammad with 12 were Tunisia’s top scorers.
Morocco had been increasingly under pressure by the decidedly superior Algeria but the tide changed in the third quarter when the former doubled their effort to score 26 points against the 17 by their rivals.
That brought the score to 63-55, still in favor of Algeria.
In the fourth quarter Algeria outgunned Morocco and played geat defense.
To underline their efficiency, Algeria shot 60% from the floor, pulled down 40 rebounds and only had 9 turnovers. Morocco finished with 40% field goal shooting, 20 rebounds and 18 turnovers.
Okeed Tardiq shot 17 points and Boghader Murad added 15 to lead Algeria’s production. The top scorers for Morocco were Z. Al Mesbahi with 17 points and M. Al Matlabi with 16 points.
