KUUMAR SHYAM (ABU DHABI)
Dubai Basketball went down to Real Madrid in a pulsating tie at the inaugural SuperCup tournament by EuroLeague Basketball and hosted by Experience Abu Dhabi at the Etihad Arena on Friday night.
After being tied at 88-88 in regular play, the fairly newcomer side amid European bigwigs only lost out to a three-pointer by Real Madrid with seconds to go. Then in the extra five minutes of play, Real Madrid dipped into their experience to prevail on the court with electric atmosphere all around.
Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot and Edy Tavares led the way with 20 points apiece for the winners, while Elie Okobo was brilliant in defeat, top scoring for Dubai with a game-high 24.
The tournament has been conceptualised with the top three teams of EuroLeague and the hosts go in a semi-final format on Day 1 followed by the final and third place encounters on Saturday.
The first semi-final also provided good fireworks with Olympiakos beat Fenerbahce Tarin Istanbul in the closing moments and will now take on Real Madrid in the finale for some silverware before the regular season begins.
Dubai Basketball gave no impression of pressure initially at least until they allowed a 14-point run to their Spanish rivals and went into the half-time break at 43-42.
Dubai Basketball fell behind in the closing minutes of the final quarter but made a good comeback and were 88-85 up with 24 seconds to go. But then Dwayne Bacon stumbled on a rebound, hurt his head and Luwawu-Cabarrot pounced on the ball to net a three-pointer.
“We made a lot of mistakes, were poor on the rebound and we also lost momentum in the middle of the game,” rued coach Xavi Pascual later.
Incidentally, the first game in EuroLeague Basketball will be between Real Madrid and Dubai Basketball on 24 September. The SuperCup finale is going to be a repeat of May's EuroLeague Championship game against Olympiacos.
Luwawu-Cabarrot said later: “I think if we play our game against any team in the EuroLeague, I think we're going to be tough to beat. And I think we can beat anyone.” The win and such comments would have pleased Real Madrid’s past footballers Gareth Bale and Marcelo who were in the audience.