Kazakhstan stay perfect, Iran ride 41 points from Jamshidi in big wins

TEHRAN (Iran) & MANAMA (Bahrain) - Kazakhstan and Iran advance to the Second Round of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 Asian Qualifiers following wins in today's games.

41-point masterpiece

Mohammad Jamshidi scores more than half of Iran’s points in a revenge win over Syria, 80-68.  Meanwhile, Kazakhstan stay undefeated with a 95-48 win over Bahrain. Both teams clinch qualification for the Second Round of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 Asian Qualifiers.

Syria had kept the game close for the first three quarters and had three scorers in double-digits, but had no response for Jamshidi as he continued to put points on the board for the home team.

 

Jamshidi had said that he and the team had “big motivation to play against [Syria]" and he certainly put that on display.

Iran’s scoring machine poured in a whopping total of 41 points, the most amount of points scored by any player in the World Cup 2023 Qualifiers regardless of region. The 30-year-old also reached this achievement by not attempting a single three-pointer. He made 12 of his 18 two-point field goal attempts and knocked down 17 of his 18 free-throw attempts.

Even though no other player reached double digit scoring, 8 of the other 9 players that saw playing time scored at least one point in this win.

For Syria, it was a valiant effort but it just wasn’t enough. Amir Hinton led the team in scoring once again, but this ended up being the first game that he failed to reach at least 30 points with only 18 points to his name. Anthouny Bakar added in 14 points on just 7 field goal attempts, while Hani Adribe scored 11 points for Syria.

Making it rain

Kazakhstan were without Anthony Clemmons in this game after a roster change. Nonetheless, the Steppen Wolves put their strength on display and maintained their perfect record.

Kazakhstan also shot the lights out from beyond the arc, knocking down 17 threes - tying the most made in the World Cup 2023 Qualifiers so far - on a 53.1 percent conversion rate. They also enjoyed a balanced effort with 10 players scoring in this game, led by Rustam Murzagaliyev who had 19 points on 6 three-pointers.

Maxim Marchuk was also a highlight for Kazakhstan after recording 8 steals, the most by any player in the World Cup Qualifiers, regardless of region. Marchuk finished with an impressive stat line of 12 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists to go with his steals.

For Bahrain, it was Ahmed Haji who led the team in scoring with 17 points and 4 rebounds.

With a perfect 4-0 record following another win, Kazakhstan clinch qualification for the Second Round of the Asian Qualifiers. Also as a result of Kazakhstan’s win, Iran also qualify for the Second Round with a 3-1 record.

It must be reminded that because the records of each team qualified for the Second Round are carried over from the First Round, each game will still be very important even if they clinch have already clinched qualification.

FIBA