Lebanese have praised their country’s basketball team for reiginiting national pride, despite their FIBA Asia Cup run ending in defeat during Sunday’s final. Lining up for their first Asia Cup final since 2007, the odds were stacked against the Lebanese team as they faced Australia, who were the defending champions and are Asia’s highest-ranked team. But fuelled by a victory over Asian basketball titans China a day earlier, The Cedars put up a strong fight at the Istora Senayan in Jakarta, Indonesia, only to lose by an agonisingly narrow margin of 75-73. Yet a Lebanese player did win Most Valu…