India register close win against Lebanon in FIBA U-16 Asian Championships 2023

The blue Cagers lost the opening encounter to Australia by a huge margin.

The Indian men’s basketball team won a close encounter against Lebanon (76-69) in their second group stage match at the FIBA U-16 Asian Championships 2023. The young Cagers started the match with a solid 12 points lead in the first quarter (18-6). However, Lebanon tried to bounce back hard in remaining minutes of quarter but India with good defence showed their chemistry, speed, power and tactics on the court and held on to a 11-point lead at the end of first quarter.

Mohit Jogchand was highest scorer with 13 points scoring three 3 pointers. Both teams got a bit slow in the 2nd quarter as only 31 points were scored out of which India scored 19 points with Lebanon scoring 12. However, the west Asian side, brought down the deficit to 10 points at the 7th minute mark. India's head coach Ram Kumar took a timeout time at the crucial juncture which helped surge ahead to 18-point lead at the end of first half.

In 2nd half, Lebanon bounced back really well. Both teams fought hard at the start of 3rd Quarter with none managing to win points. India opened their account at the third minute mark while Lebanon had to wait for six long minutes to score. With some strong basketball action on display Lebanon managed to force a comeback and reduce deficit by 13 points (62-49).

The final quarter was heading for a thrilling finish as Lebanon came back to reduce the lead just to two points at the end of the 9th minute. In the end, Lebanon made few errors while trying to score quick points resulting in fouls ultimately helping Indian hoopsters earn back-to-back free throws. India scored three out of four free throws and registered their first victory in the FIBA U-16 Asian Championships 2023.

Lokesh Kumar Sharma was highest scorer with 24 points with captain Mohit Jogchand scoring 20 points. On the other hand, Jason El Dekss was highest scorer for Lebanon with 22 points.