AMMAN — The first national basketball team, the
Jordan Falcons, qualified for the FIBA Asia Cup quarterfinals qualifiers after
defeating Saudi Arabia 74–64 on Saturday in Jakarta at the Istora stadium.
اضافة اعلان
The Falcons ranked second in Group A standings with
five points, following Australia.
Following the win, Jordan are set to meet
Chinese Taipei, which clinched third Group B, on Monday. The details of the match are
set to be determined later.
Saudi Arabia was eliminated despite their strong
start in the first quarter (21–19). The Falcons had a solid comeback starting
the second half (39–27) and won the match. Saudi Arabia had previously also
lost their opening Group A match to Indonesia (80-54) on Tuesday and their
second match to defending champions Australia (76-52) on Thursday.
Indonesia, the host, who came third in Group A
ranking, will play against
China, which placed second place in Group B, for the
quarterfinal. Australia, the group leader with six points, qualified for the
quarterfinals directly, according to tournament instructions.
Ahmad Al-Dwairi remained the national team’s stud
after achieving his third straight double-double after scoring 16 points and
getting 12 rebounds. Ahmad Alhamarsheh followed by scoring 15 points, getting
five rebounds.
Mathna Almarwani, from the Saudi side, emerged with
a double-double before the end of halftime, and finished with 15 points, 14
rebounds, four assists, and two steals.
Saudi’s Khalid Abdel Gabar had his best performance
yet in the Asia Cup with 19 points, six rebounds, and three assists
Wissam Al-Sous, the Falcon’s head coach, expressed
utter dissatisfaction with the national team’s performance against
Saudi Arabia, as he said on the sidelines of a press conference: “I was not satisfied
with the performance of the players in the first half. Our performance was also
bad towards the end of the game. And while we did well in the second and third
quarters, I am not satisfied with the performance. We are lacking team spirit.”
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