SENDAI, Japan _ Playing without their coach, Lebanon's players pulled off a
huge upset against France at the basketball world championship.
Joseph Vogel's free throw with 23 seconds left Wednesday lifted Lebanon to a
stunning 74-73 win over France.
Lebanon was forced to play Wednesday's game without American coach Paul
Coughter, who was ill with the flu and stayed at the team hotel.
"This is a historic win for us," said assistant coach Khalaf Koussay, who
took over for Coughter. "I think France took it easy because they saw our last
two games."
Vogel, who was born in the United States but has Lebanese citizenship, made a
hook shot with 23.8 seconds remaining to give Lebanon a 73-72 lead.
Boris Diaw of the Phoenix Suns made it 74-73 with a free throw, but missed
his second attempt. Laurent Foirest grabbed the rebound off Diaw's missed free
throw and shot a 6-meter jumper from the baseline, which bounced off the rim.
France (2-2) tied the game 68-68 with 1:45 left on a baseline jumper by Diaw.
Rony Fahed hit a 3-pointer to give Lebanon a 71-68 lead.
Fadi El Khatib led Lebanon (2-2) with 29 points.
"I can't explain what happened today," said El Khatib. "We wanted to play
good basketball after two losses and show that Lebanon has talent. We are happy
for our country."
El Khatib scored 14 first-half points and Lebanon took a 43-30 lead at the
break.
Diaw, who played 29 minutes, led France with 14 points. Florent Pietrus had
14.
France went on an 11-point run to open the third quarter and was down 53-49
heading into the final period.
"We played bad in the first half," said France's Joseph Gomis. "We came back
in the second half, but it wasn't enough and this is very embarrassing."
Lebanon lost all five games and finished last at the 2002 worlds in
Indianapolis. It beat Venezuela in its first game and could advance to the
second round here with a win over Nigeria on Thursday.
"We still have to beat Nigeria," said Koussay. "They have shown in this
tournament they are a good team and it will be a tough game for us."
France will face Venezuela on Thursday.
