A Qatari player (in white) attempts to score a basket during his side’s FIBA Asia Championship match against Jordan at MOA Arena in Pasay, Philippines, yesterday. Qatar won 75-61.
Pasay, Philippines: Qatar stayed undefeated after beating Jordan 75-61, yesterday at the MOA Arena, in the second-round match of the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship.
Group B leaders Qatar improved to 3-0, while Jordan, formerly of Group A, slumped to 0-3, in Group E.
Jordan had previously dispatched Saudi Arabia, but wins against eliminated teams do not carry over in round two.
Throughout the first half, the hot-shooting of Wesam Al Sous kept Jordan in the game.
However, Qatar’s defence focused on Al Sous in the third and fourth periods, shutting down his contributions on offense. The Qatari defence also did a wonderful job on Jimmy Baxter, as he was limited to only 12 points on 5-of-17 shooting from the field.
Erfan Ali Saeed drew first blood for Qatar but Jordan answered with a 5-0 run engineered by Mohammad Harbrab and Al Sous.
The two teams then fought neck-and-neck for most of the first quarter with no team leading by more than five points.
Al Sous also sank a three ball with 10 seconds left in the first quarter, to tie the ball game at 23-all.
Qatar tried to pull away midway through the second quarter, as three free throws from Daoud Mosa Daoud at the 6:05 mark gave them a 35-31 lead.
Down 40-33, Jordan’s Hani Alfaraj sank a triple with 2:01 left in the first half to pull his team closer.
However, Daoud closed the quarter with a put-back to give Qatar a slim 42-38 lead at the end of the first half.
At the half, former NBA player Jarvis Hayes carried the load on offence for Qatar as he dropped 12 points in the game’s first 20 minutes.
He was backed up by a Daoud and Yasseen Musa who each contributed eight markers.
Jordan on the other hand banked on the sweet three-point shooting of Al Sous, who provided 14 points. Mohammad Hadrab added eight points to their cause.
The third quarter saw Qatar pulling away from Jordan. Although the Jordanians stayed close throughout the penultimate canto, Hayes starred in a late run to swing the momentum towards Qatar.
The 10th overall pick in the 2013 NBA draft dished out an assist that led to a Daoud triple with 45 seconds left in the third.
Hayes then added a jumper 40 seconds later for a 61-52 count in favor of Qatar.
Qatar pulled away further in the fourth quarter as they built a 14-point buffer with five minutes left in the game.
Alfaraj scored on the break for Jordan at the 3:08 mark to cut the lead down to 12 at 68-56.
However, Saeed quickly took the two points back with a mid-range jumper to re-establish Qatar’s 14-point lead, and they never looked back after that.
“We’re hoping that the Philippines expends a lot of energy against Japan [in their game later today],” said Qatar head coach Thomas Robert Wisman. Qatar is banking on a win over the Philippines and Chinese Taipei for a better position in the quarterfinals. AGENCIES
