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FIBA West Asia Super League:
Buva on double-double as Tabiat edges Sagesse 88-87
American Stedmon Lemon broke the 86-all deadlock to give themselves the lead for good with 33.7 seconds left to play and some stroke of luck afterward would enable the reigning Iran Basketball League champions to come away with the narrow win, joining Amman United Club as the first winners of the West Asia League contest.
Buva also had four assists, delivering solidly in the endgame that saw him engage in a shootout with Zach Lofton as both squads went back and forth.
Lemon produced 21 points and six rebounds. Sina Vahedi delivered 11 points and seven assists, while Rasoul Mozafari chipped in 10 markers.
Mozafari himself was responsible for pushing Tabiat ahead, nailing a three-pointer first before following it up with a deuce to give themselves the 86-81 advantage with 2:12 remaining.
But Sagesse, of course, refused to quit, with Jad Khalil and Omar Jamaleddine joining hands to tie the game at 86-all with 1:18 to go – much to the delight of the Green Castle faithful that trooped to the venue.
Lemon, though, broke the tie with a layup to give the crew 88-86 lead, and it helped them a great deal that Shabazz Muhammad failed to tie it up again as he only split his foul shots with 28 ticks left.
Sagesse appeared to have gotten a big break when they forced a five-second inbound violation on Lemon, but couldn’t maximize the possession they got back as Omar Jamaleddine missed his potential game-winning trey.
Tabiat shot exactly 50-percent from the floor, including 10 triples – twice what the opposite made. That efficient shooting display was also thanks to the 25 assists they had as a unit.
“In a tournament like this, or in every tournament, the first game, I think, is the most important,” Buva said after the victory, adding: “It’s gonna be a pretty fast tournament, like four games in five days, so opening up with a win is important.”