Lebanon staved off the hard-fighting Syria, 87-78, to open their FIBA Asia Cup 2025 Qualifiers campaign on a winning note, Friday night at the Al Fayhaa Stadium.

The Cedars witnessed what was once a 25-point lead become just seven, 79-72, late in the fourth, but Amir Saoud made sure that no collapse would take place as he sank a crucial triple from the corner to push their lead back to 10 with 2:30 left - and restore order.

Wael Arakji and Norvel Pelle would then help Saoud out in applying the finishing touches as the 2022 Asia Cup silver medalists came out with the character-testing win, with the team seemingly motivated after seeing the continental conclave's ultimate prize.

The FIBA Asia Cup trophy made an appearance in Damascus. The coveted hardware will be put on display at multiple games across the Asia Cup 2025 Qualifying windows.

Game heroes: Arakji top-scored for Lebanon with 19 points and 8 assists. The returning Pelle finished with 17 points and 7 boards, as both men netted an efficiency of 20 each.

Saoud produced 12 points, spiked by a pair of three-pointers. Forward Gerard Hadidian and 22-year-old guard Marc Khoueiry chipped in 11 points apiece in the triumph that enabled the crew of Coach Jad El Hajj to take the early lead in Group F (1-0).

Turning point: Lebanon came into the fourth holding a commanding 20-point lead but Bilal Atli helped spark a 16-3 run - capped by an Abdulwahab Alhamwi one-handed jam - to cut the gap to only seven, setting up the tight finish that got the packed crowd on its feet.

Stats don't lie: Javion Blake impressed in his FIBA debut as he led Syria with a game-high 28 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the field. He played all 40 minutes and finished with 23 EFF.

 They said: "I wanna say congrats to Lebanon, hard luck to Syria. They played well.The last quarter was great for them, we put a target before the game to control the 40 minutes and win four quarters, unfortunately we lost the one by 10 or 11 points. First three quarters was great, fully under control, we shared the ball, we played tough defense. The last 10 minutes we lost focus, we lost energy, and they came back. But the most important thing is we got the win and there were no injuries." - Jad El Hajj, Head Coach, Lebanon.

"First of all, congratulations to Lebanon on the win. They played a good game although during the second half, we were able to come back. Secondly, thanks to the fans for the support. We split the game into two parts. The first half was really bad, we couldn’t set up our defense, they scored easily … it was not what we planned - 51 points were too much for us. And then the second half we started playing tougher, wiser, especially on their pick-and-rolls, cut some of their sets, and we were able to go within seven points. When you play against a team like Lebanon, with that amount of caliber players and experience, you cannot make so many mistakes. We did." - Facundo Sebastian Petracci, Head Coach, Syria.