Kitchener Grand River ('06) graduate Imad Qahwash is currently plying his trade overseas, where he has recently joined the Palestinian national team.
Palestine is making their first-ever appearance at the FIBA Asia tournament, which will serve to determine one 2016 Olympic qualifier (the next three best teams will qualify for the 2016 FIBA World Qualifying Tournament).
Competition got under way last night, and Qahwash and Palestine provided a stunning upset to tip-off the competition.
As a 30 point underdog to heavily favoured Philippines (who feature former NBAer Andray Blatche on their roster), Palestine dug themselves a 16-point hole in the first quarter but managed to gradually climb up the comeback mountain.
Down 7 with 1:55 on the clock, Palestine struck like a lightning bolt, with former Minnesota Golden Gopher Jamal Abu-Shamala knocking in two three-pointers that keyed an 8-0 Palestine run in TWENTY seconds, giving them the lead.
Down one with :15 to go, Qahwash found star forward Sani Sakakini for an "and-one" that gave Palestine a 75-73 lead. Sakakini would then block Blatche's potential game-winning three pointer to preserve a historic win for the program.
Qahwash, Abu-Shamala, and Sakakini played all 40 minutes in the contest for Palestine. Qahwash finished with 17 points (5/20 FG, 7/8 FT), while adding 3 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 steal.
More info, including the game story, can be found on the FIBA Asia website, while the game highlights are above (Qahwash is #10 in red).
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