Javion Blake: ''I want to thank the crowd for giving us a great atmosphere for us tonight''

DAMASCUS (Syria) - Lebanon were in the FIBA Asia Cup 2022 Final. They were also at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023.

"I CAN'T THANK THE FANS ENOUGH."

Syria didn't make it to the Quarter-Finals of the Asia Cup and did not qualify for the World Cup either.

Lebanon are 28th in the FIBA World Ranking presented by NIKE, while Syria are 71st.

So it wasn't a big surprise when the Cedars went up ahead 65-40 midway through the third quarter - their biggest lead of this FIBA Asia Cup 2025 Qualifier game.

Ten minutes later in the middle of the fourth quarter, Syria had whittled the lead down to single-digits and suddenly, there was tension in the air. Lebanon eventually walked away from the Al Fayhaa Stadium with a win, but even they will be the first to show respect for Syria's efforts.

"Even though Lebanon were [expected] to win by a big difference, this is due to their effort and fighting spirit on court," said Lebanon's Amir Saoud, who scored 12 points. "In the last quarter, we kind of relaxed a little bit that we shouldn’t and they kept on fighting. They played 40 minutes and we played 35 or 33 minutes, that’s why the game was only by this difference."

This is not something new with Syria basketball.

At Asia Cup 2022, they trailed Kazakhstan by 12 points before roaring back to win by 10 in an important Group Phase game. They secured the upset of the Asia Cup 2022 Qualifiers when they beat Iran, 77-70, three years ago.

They have put on display their fighting spirit time and again.

It meant a bit more, especially in this game, as they were playing in front of a packed crowd at the Al Fayhaa Stadium. It's always special to play at home for Syria - a privilege that they've missed out on for years until last year when they hosted the Olympics Pre-Qualifying Tournament - so the players consistently put in their best efforts on the floor.

"Playing in Damascus in the Al Fayhaa Stadium will be an amazing experience for Syrian players and fans, and I'm excited to be a part of it," said Mohamad Bilal Atli before the game. In his national team debut, Atli recorded 15 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 assists.

Another Syrian debutant who took advantage of the extra boost of energy from the fans in Damascus was Javion Blake.

The 26-year-old was impressive with 28 points on 8-14 shooting while also knocking down all of his 11 free throws. And he couldn't stop gushing about how appreciative he was of the fans.

"I wanna thank the crowd for giving us a great atmosphere for us tonight," he said in the post-game press conference. "But Lebanon are a great team. We knew that coming into the game so we knew it's gonna be a tough fight."

"Ultimately we made too many mistakes against an experienced team, and a team like that will make you pay for it in the end but I'm proud of everybody in the coaching staff, the fans, and all my teammates for believing in me to do my job and helping us on the court with the fans.

"I can't thank the fans enough. It was a great game but we came up short to a great team tonight."

So even if Syria took in a defeat in their opening game of the FIBA Asia Cup 2025 Qualifiers, there's positivity in the air still. That's because the team - and their fans - knows well that they will always compete until the final buzzer sounds.

And when they play at home, which they will do against UAE (February 21, 2025) and Bahrain (February 24, 2025) in Window 3, they'll have another source of energy to tap in to from the stands.

FIBA