AMMAN (Jordan) - All hands were on deck as Iran breezed past Kuwait, 90-53, to start their FIBA U18 Asia Cup 2024 campaign, Monday at the Prince Hamza Hall.
Salar Taheri and Amirmahyar Keramati finished with 13 points apiece, while Pedram Fallah and Mani Gigasari added 12 and 10 points, respectively, as all 11 players fielded contributed at least 2 points in a lopsided contest to start Group B play.
Taheri gave the young Team Melli the lead, 10-9, through a layup with 3:15 left in first quarter, which would spark the decisive run that broke the game wide open. Gigasari followed it up with back-to-back hits, before Sina Mohammadi and Arian Edalatfar joined in as Iran finished the period with a 12-0 run for a 20-9 lead. Kuwait could no longer find any sort of rhythm after that.
Things from bad to worse for them when they only mustered 5 points in the second chapter, while Iran kept their foot on the gas pedal and headed into the break with a 44-14 lead. Iran as a whole shot 46-percent from the floor, big thanks to their 24 assists - 17 more than their foes.
They also dominated the rebounding battle, 48-28. Adel Alsaied, on the other hand, registered 17 points and 6 rebounds to lead Kuwait. Ahmad Alrashaid was his lone support with 14 points in the loss.
Also winning big in the group were Korea following their masterful 119-47 triumph against India, in which 12 players managed to chip in at least a bucket.
Kim Jeonghyun bannered the wire-to-wire win with 17 points and 11 rebounds, netting an efficiency of 32 as he also shot a perfect 6-for-6 from the floor.
He did not commit a single turnover in an outing where he also chalked up 3 assists and a steal. Gu Sungchae made 16 points, as he was part of the 5 on the floor that put together a 13-3 start for the Koreans that eventually led to a 31-11 lead at the end of the opening frame, which pretty much set how the game would turn out.
Yang Jongyun, Jang Hyeokjun, and Lee Byungyup all scored 12 points apiece. Park Jungwoong had 11 points, while Daniel Edi added 10 points and 8 rebounds as a total of 7 players finished in double figures in the massive blowout.
That balanced attack was hugely because of their 36 assists, which also enabled the squad to shoot 47.5-percent from the floor. Furthermore, Korea not only dominated the boards (56-33), but made it happen on defense as well with 16 steals. Lavish, meanwhile, had 10 points to lead India.
FIBA