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| Amir Saoud finds himself wide open after Suton Sunthonsiri falls down. FIBA |
By Ivan Saldajeno
MANILA--Al-Riyadi made the race for a Group B spot in the FIBA Asia Champions Cup semifinals interesting after edging Mono Vampire, 106-100, at the Stadium 29 in Nonthaburi, Thailand on Friday night.
The defending champion in the tournament needed overtime to hold off the host squad as Meralco got a glimmer of hope to sneak into the Final Four despite bowing to Alvark Tokyo earlier Friday.
However, the Bolts need to defeat Al-Riyadi by 11 points or more on Saturday night and hope that Alvark, who already booked a semifinal seat with the win against the Bolts, beat the Vampires earlier in the day to earn the final semifinal seat.
Amir Saoud came close to a triple-double with 30 points, nine rebounds, and eight assists with two steals and two blocks for Al-Riyadi, which recovered from missing out on edging Mono in regulation by dropping 19 points in the extra five minutes.
Mark Lyons (27 points and 10 assists) and Bassel Bawji (25 points and 16 rebounds) achieved double-doubles for Al-Riyadi, which bounced back from a shock loss to Alvark on Thusday night.
Mike Singletary dropped 30 points, 20 rebounds, four assists, and one steal for Mono.
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