MANAMA (Bahrain) - Iraq sprung an upset to secure the last spot at FIBA Asia Cup 2025 by defeating Bahrain 85-72, concluding the Asia Cup Qualifiers on Sunday night at the Khalifa Sports City.
The West Asian nation came out of the gates guns blazing. They scored 30 points in the first quarter for a 10-point lead, and finished the first half with 53 points and an 18-point cushion. Bahrain made multiple attempts to build momentum and cut down the lead, but Iraq always found a way to counter.
After a big loss to India, Iraq needed a win to clinch a top-two spot in Group H of the Qualifying Tournament for Third-Place Teams - and they got it, keeping the home team Bahrain winless. This makes them the sixteenth and final team to qualify for the FIBA's flagship event in Asia, which is set to hold its 31st edition in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on August 5-17.
Iraq will return to the Asia Cup where they haven't played since 2017, set to make their fifth appearance.
Game heroes: Demario Mayfield started the game on fire with 6 points and 5 assists in the first quarter alone. He'd end up with 16 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists - his second triple-double recorded playing for Iraq.
His previous triple-double was on July 7 , 2018 when he put up 27 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists against Qatar in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Asian Qualifiers.
Ali Ismael also had an all-around game with 16 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, and a block.
Turning point: Iraq led throughout the entire game, but one of the biggest blows they dealt to Bahrain was when Hassan Abdullah knocked down a tough three-pointer with the clock winding down in the first half.
Stats don't lie: There was just nothing that Bahrain could do to stop their opponents from scoring, as they allowed Iraq to shoot 60.7 percent from the field.
Despite turning the ball over 21 times and allowing Bahrain to collect 17 offensive rebounds, Iraq continuously exploited the mismatches to stay ahead until the final buzzer.
They said: "... Five years, I was coach of India and that way, how they’re playing, that impressed me. Those are the players that grew up with me and that is a big step. Also for my team Iraq, it's also [the same] - I can congratulate everybody from this team, from a player who took a big part of the competition and also from a bench player who was supporting, also the coaching staff, the federation who helped us to come here and do this after 8 years. Iraq is back in Asia Cup." - Veselin Matic, Head Coach, Iraq
"... I would like to say congratulations to my Iraqi brothers, it’s been a really really long time, a really long fight with these guys. I’ve been with these guys for 9-10 years. Just for us to do something special, it means a lot to me. It means a lot to the Iraqi people, to the Iraqi country. So just for us to be able to, switch our focus really quick from taking a big loss to India and then being able to switch our focus and come in, here in Bahrain’s home court and get a tough W here - a big congratulations to our coaching staff who are keeping us focused and being able to come in and give us the scouting report and their relentless work." - Demario Mayfield, Iraq
"At the end of any competition, there is nothing much to say. I just want to say congrats to Iraq and hard luck for Bahrain. It was very tough on us, especially in the first half. They dominated us. They have great size, we don’t have this. We reacted late second half. They already took the lead and they controlled the game. They were more hungry to qualify, to win this game, so all that we can say is congrats for them." - Jad El Hajj, Head Coach, Bahrain
"As coach said, we didn’t start the game very well, especially on defense. We gave them too many open looks. The preparation was good, everything was okay before the game, but I think as players, we didn’t take the responsibility defensively. We reacted so late. We came back 8-9 points and they take the lead again to 16-17 points, it’s hard for us to come back." - Ahmed Alderazi, Bahrain