Lebanon's Beirut qualified for the final of the 35th Arab Club Basketball Championship after its well-deserved victory over defending champion Kuwait 101/97 in a match that was more like an early final in which the Beirut team knew how to deal with it, especially in defense, which was Kuwait's weapon in the first half, which ended in their favor by 9 points. The score was 56/47, but Beirut turned the tide of the match in the second half with its defensive method and its proficiency in fast-break counterattacks and turning them into points in the blue basket, especially through the star of the match, the American professional Tony Michel, who scored 31 points, the most important of which were the nine consecutive points from three successful three-point shots at the time. In which Kuwait put pressure in the decisive last minutes, reducing the score to four points, the difference then rose, for the first time, to 12 points in favor of Beirut thanks to the brilliance of Michel and playmaker Ali Mezher, who played an important role in the victory, both with his decisive passes and his skill in scoring from outside the arc, alongside captain Ali Haider, as the trio was a source of nuisance for the Kuwaiti defense.
Beirut advanced in the first quarter 28/23, the third 25/16, and the fourth 29/25, while Kuwait advanced in the second quarter 33/19.
Tony Michel from Beirut and Marco from Kuwait scored the highest score of 31 points
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