Prosper, Jawato dazzle in dominating debut win for Indonesia over Thailand

 MANAMA (Bahrain) - The fire of the rivalry continues to burn with another clash between Thailand and Indonesia. In their first time matching up in the FIBA Asia Cup 2021 Qualifiers, Indonesia turned on the jets in the second half to beat Thailand 90-76.

The two teams traded baskets and went back forth for most of the first half. Indonesia had some trouble connecting on their field goals in the early stages of the game, leaving the opportunity for Thailand to control the lead with their three-point shooting. Nattakarn Muangboon was the star for Thailand throughout the entire game with a game-high 32 points on 6-10 shooting from beyond the arc to go with 5 rebounds and 8 assists.

Indonesia were able to take the a 48-47 lead going into the halftime break on a basket by Brandon Jawato. The sharpshooting forward had a spectacular national team debut, flirting with a triple-double of 22 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists.

Thailand suffered from a scoring draught in the last 3 minutes of the third quarter and Indonesia never looked back all the way to the final buzzer.

Coach Rajko Toroman took advantage of his team’s fresh legs, aiming to run Thailand out of the gym with speed. Indonesia finished the game with 19 fastbreak points, allowing their star guards Andakara Prastawa (15 points) and Abraham Damar Grahita (22 points) to get their offense going.

Lester Prosper also had a successful debut with the national team, racking up 19 points and 13 rebounds as the main paint presence for Indonesia. He made quite a statement by throwing down a monstrous dunk for his first two points.

Thailand will get one day to rest before facing the Philippines on November 30 as they continue to search for their first win of the Qualifiers.

FIBA