Lebanon go into battle against South Korea in the FIBA Asia Championship on Friday.
Lebanon and South Korea face off in the FIBA Asia Championship in Wuhan on Friday.
The two teams posted contrasting wins in their opening Group A games.
The Lebanese banked on the endgame heroics of Jean Abd El Nour as they survived India 71-68. The veteran guard scored eight of his game-high 24 points in the crucial stages to help his squad come back from a 57-64 deficit.
Lebanon built a 15-point lead early on but the unheralded Indians came back strong and almost pulled off a shocking win.
Although Lebanon was favored to beat India, the West Asian squad was weakened by the absence of key players Fadi El Khatib, Rony Fahed and Brian Beshara for this tournament.
South Korea, meanwhile, had no trouble disposing of Malaysia 82-49. The East Asian champions raced to a 26-3 start and never looked back as they sent a strong message to the opposition.
Cho Sung-Min scored 10 points in the first quarter and finished with 16. Oh Sek-Eun added 13 points and grabbed seven rebounds while Lee Jung-Suk and Korean-American Moon Tae-Jong chipped in 11 points apiece.
"It was good to give the bench sufficient court time before the big games," South Korea head coach Hur Jae said.
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