Al Riyadi and Sagesse advance into Final

SEMIS

Al Riyadi - Gorgan 97-81

Al Riyadi players were unselfish on offense dishing 27 assists. Guard Wael Arakji (193-1994) stepped up and scored 15 points and 9 assists for the winners and forward Hayk Gyokchyan (203-1990, college: F&M) chipped in 18 points and 6 rebounds. Al Riyadi's coach allowed to play the deep bench players saving starting five for next games. Center Salar Monji (203-1997, agency: BIG) responded with a double-double by scoring 14 points and 10 rebounds and American point guard Will Cherry (185-1991, college: Montana) scored 14 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists. Four Al Riyadi and five Gorgan players scored in double figures.
Top scorers:
Al Riyadi: H.Gyokchyan 18+6reb+2ast, T.Maker 15+5reb, W.Arakji 15+4reb+9ast, J.Simmons 11+1reb+4ast, A.Mansour 11+3reb+4ast, E.Kikanovic 9+11reb+1ast
Gorgan: W.Cherry 14+5reb+4ast, S.Monji 14+10reb+2ast, D.Stone 13+5reb+2ast, N.Rezaeifar 13+3reb+1ast, S.Vahedi 12+2reb+4ast, M.Sheikhi 6+4reb+2ast

Kuwait - Sagesse 72-76

Sagesse made 23-of-27 free shots (85.2 percent) during the game. Serbian-American power forward Nick Rakocevic (211-1997, college: USC, agency: Slash Sports) orchestrated the victory with a double-double by scoring 22 points and 12 rebounds. American point guard Jonathan Gibson (188-1987, college: NM State) contributed with 17 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists (was perfect 12-for-12 from the free throw line !!!) for the winners. Haitian center Cady Lalanne (208-1992, college: UMass) answered with a double-double by scoring 13 points and 13 rebounds and Mohammad Adnan (194-2000) added 12 points and 11 rebounds in the effort for Kuwait. Four Kuwait players scored in double figures. Kuwait's coach rotated ten players in this game, but that didn't help.
Top scorers:
Sagesse: N.Rakocevic 22+12reb+3ast, A.Ibrahim 17+5reb+2ast, J.Gibson 17+6reb+4ast, C.Early 8+4reb, K.Ezzeddine 7+5reb, O.Jamaleddine 5+6reb+2ast
Kuwait: J.Young 14+1reb+1ast, H.Hasan 13+1reb+3ast, C.Lalanne 13+13reb, M.Adnan 12+11reb+2ast, M.Georges-Hunt 8+3reb+3ast, T.Al-Shamri 5+2ast