Lebanese Community Basketball Team got the better of Egypt Selection in a wild finish for a 48-47 victory that kept the Lebanese unbeaten and with a legitimate shot for one of two final berths in the Inter-Commecial Open Rated Division in the Microsoft Lumia & 36th FBA Basketball Tournament at the Sheraton Jeddah Hotel court.

The Lebanese under coach Hassan Zeineddein won their third straight game to end the first round eliminations but not after a whale of a game with their great rivals that had the Friday crowd on its feet.

Cat-quick guard Jad Kaddara executed the Lebanese’s game-winning play to perfection in the dying seconds of a low-scoring game that could have gone either way.

With 16 seconds to play and Egypt ahead by 1, 47-46, Kaddara received the sideline inbound from fellow speedster Mohamad Kerr, found a space and without hesitation launched the biggest shot of the night with 8 ticks left, the ball bouncing the rim before it trickled in.

The bigger Egyptians still had a chance but their man mountain Kaidar was bottled up by three defender and his forced shot was swatted away by Tareq Al Eter in a superb defensive stop that preserved the Lebanese’s victory.

Point guard Kaddara, who has many moves that guarding him was a big challenge, finished with a game-high 18 points and was named Best Player of the game. His partner at the 1 and 2 positions, Kerr, added 9. Ramzi scored 8 points while center Fadi and Eter each had 5.

The loss was the second in four games for coach Waleed Khattab and the Egyptians who were without the Amir Mohannad. The promising young player twisted his ankle on the eve of the big game while playing with Princeton which dropped a 91-90 decision against Maharlikans in a Thursday thriller in the Inter-Commercial Open Non Rated Division.

Hardworking Hamdy led the Egyptians’ losing cause with 13 points, Fawzi had 11 including 3 three-pointers while Kaidar had 9 and Hamid, a coach at Al Wehda, added 6.

The game was back-and-forth all night long although the Lebanese gained momentum in the third quarter that ended 35-31 in their favor.

A completed steal by Hamdi tied the game at 37 before a three by Ramzi staked the Lebanese to a three-point lead only for the Egyptians to hit back with an 8-0 run that included an unlikely three-point basket by Kaidar and which Hamdi closed with a three-point play. Staring a five-point deficit, 45-43, the Lebanese had Jad putting them right back in the fight with a three, time down to 3:13. They then wrested the lead 46-45 on a Fadi three-point play. After a Hamdi baseline drive for 47-46 to Egypt with 1:50 left, both teams would not score until the last basket of the game by Kaddara.

Elsewhere, lopsided games were the rule rather than the exception. In the nightcap Thursday, Sweet Bloomer blasted Panda to smithereens 97-55 to improve to 4-1 in Inter-Company B, AMI Pioneer crushed Wafu Wafu Tropa feeps 94-57 in the first game Thursday then returned the next day to inflict a similar drubbing on Veolia Water 86-53 in Inter-Company D while AVK overpowered Lifestyle 88-52 and ALJ United Leasing Co. trounced Maaden (MGBM) 73-52 in a pair of Inter-Company C games.

In other games, Junbarkads edged Jeddah United 61-59 (Inter-Company C), Bindawood defeated Hanco 89-77 (Inter-Company B) and Freyssinet with Best Player Smiley Suguitan shooting a night-high 42 points beat Saudi Diyar 93-83 (Inter-Company C).