Lebanon rebound for first away win in Group C, Jordan go for two-in-a-row

AMMAN (Jordan) & JEDDAH (Saudi Arabia) - Jordan close out a perfect Window 2 run, while Lebanon become the first team to win an away game in Group C of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 Asian Qualifiers.

Both teams confirm qualification for the Second Round of the Asian Qualifiers with the wins in today’s games.

Two-in-a-row

Jordan handled Indonesia with ease in a 94-64 win where all but only player that saw the court put up points in the board.

Freddy Ibrahim starred in Jordan’s second consecutive win of the Asian Qualifiers, flirting with a triple-double to end up with 17 points, 7 rebounds, and 10 assists. It was an impressive effort from Jordan as they finished with 30 assists in total as a team.

 

Amin Abu Hawwas also put in 17 points, as well as Dar Tucker who had 14 points of his own.

Indonesia fought tooth and nail against Jordan in the first quarter, holding the lead for a solid 5-minute stretch. In the end, Jordan’s firepower was too much to handle.

On a positive note for Indonesia, Abraham Damar Grahita had his best game yet in the World Cup Qualifiers with 24 points on 55.6 percent shooting from the field.

Cedars on the rebound

Lebanon rebounded from a tough loss to claim an impressive away win over Saudi Arabia, 81-68. This was the first away game win by any team so far in Group C

Even though Lebanon held the lead during all but one minute in this game, Saudi Arabia made sure to put pressure on their opponents and keep the game close. It wasn’t until a third quarter burst of scoring from Sergio El Darwich that Lebanon began controlling the momentum of the game. El Darwich knocked down all of his 4 three-pointers in that quarter before finishing with 16 points in the game.

However, it was Ali Haidar who led the Cedars in scoring in this game with 23 points in efficient fashion. The bigman shot 50 percent from the floor, 2-3 from beyond the arc, and went perfect on 7 attempts from the free-throw line.

While Ater Major didn’t post big scoring numbers as the aforementioned players, he did record 5 blocks in this game which is more than any player in this Asian Qualifiers.

Saudi Arabia’s impressive efforts start with their hustle on the glass where they outrebounded Lebanon and on defense where they forced 17 turnovers. However, they were able to connect on only 4 of their 21 three-pointers in this game.

Mathna Almarwani led the team in scoring with 18 points to go with 3 rebounds and 3 assists. This game was highlighted by another good performance from Mohammed Alsuwailem who had a double-double of 10 points and 11 rebounds.

The win gives both Jordan and Lebanon 3-1 records and qualifies them for the second round of the Asian Qualifiers. Saudi Arabia are at 2-2, while Indonesia are at 0-4.

Because the records of each team qualified for the Second Round are carried over from the First Round, each of the remaining games are very important even if teams clinch qualification early.

FIBA