Atlantis The Palm, Dubai rallied from an early deficit to edge past Raffles Dubai 63-62 at the Zayed bin Sultan Gym in Satwa to secure their Final Four spot in Synergy Sports’ Inter-Hotel Basketball Tournament.
Alexis Tito, who was adjudged best player of the match, and Fernando Louis Durmiendo led Atlantis with 15 and 13 points respectively while Kenyan centre Agrey Odhiambo made his presence felt on the defensive end.
Atlantis were down by five points, 18-13, in the first quarter and were behind by six, 34-28, at the turn.
But they built momentum in the third period after Odhiambo came in, closing the inner lane for Raffles’ Siob Gorospe, who scored 20 of his 29 points in the first two quarters.
“We played bad defence and committed numerous unforced errors in the first half,” Atlantis coach Manuel Kuong told Sport360°. “But we rectified our mistakes and played tight defence in the second half to win the game.”
Atlantis controlled the fourth quarter and enjoyed a four-point lead, 63-59, with only six seconds left after Odhiambo and Edmar Lelis scored a basket each.
Gorospe then made the final stand for Raffles with a three-point attempt.
Atlantis will meet Emaar Hospitality Group in the semis while Raffles failed to advance to the next round.
Conrad Dubai will meet Auris Plaza Hotel in the other semi-final match on Friday night.