TIANJIN (FIBA Asia Championship) - Jordan slowly but surely and steadily showed their superiority and eventually scored an 81-70 triumph over Philippines in the first quarterfinal on Friday.
The win gave Jordan their maiden semifinal entry and pitted them against the winners of the game between Iran and Qatar.
“I can’t find words to describe my excitement,” Jordan guard Sam Daghles, who returned a game-high nine assists said, about Jordan’s entry into the semifinals.
“We have worked really hard on this for the last three years and we deserve this,” the 30-year-old said.
“We have proved we belong to the top-four in Asia,” said Jordan coach Mario Palma.
“Two years ago we missed it by a whisker. But this time the boys are determined and are playing some very good basketball,” Palma added.
“We want to push it as far as we can,” Philippines coach Joseller Guiao had said in an interview to this website after the quarterfinal entry.
For sure the SEABA champions pushed their West Asian rivals hard right through.
“We knew it won’t be easy. I am glad we got our rebounds the fast breaks when we needed them,” said Jordan coach Mario Palma.
Jordan led 22-17 at the end of the first quarter, but Philippines scored the first seven points of the second to move ahead 24-22.
Jordan leveled the scores there and went ahead 27-22, but Willie Miller Jr sank a three-pointer to put Philippines on par again.
That’s exactly the point where Jordanian centre Ayman Idais began to assert his influence on the game.
The 205-cm 31-year-old fired three three-pointers with Sam Daghles’ free-throw conversion interspersing the last two and Jordan surged ahead with a 10-0 run – the longest run of the game.
A run that put Jordan always ahead for the rest of the game.
Idais scored 13 – including finding the mark thrice off five three-pointer attempts – of his game’s 20 points during the second half.
Rasheim Wright took over after that, scoring 15 of his game-high 21 points, in the second quarter.
Zaid Abbas pulled down a game-high 16 rebounds and Sam Daghles had a game-high nine assists.
Philippines outscored Jordan by three points in the third quarter and by four in the fourth quarter – including an 11-3 run in the first five minutes of the fourth quarter.
And Idais’ second quarter burst proved decisive in the final analysis.
“We wanted to stay close and make our move in the fourth quarter, which is exactly what we did,” Guiao said.
“But they woke up well in time. In the final analysis, we should feel happy for bettering our last time finish,” he added.
Gabriel Norwood’s 11 points was the highest in Filipinos’ all-round scoring.
S Mageshwaran
FIBA Asia
The win gave Jordan their maiden semifinal entry and pitted them against the winners of the game between Iran and Qatar.
“I can’t find words to describe my excitement,” Jordan guard Sam Daghles, who returned a game-high nine assists said, about Jordan’s entry into the semifinals.
“We have worked really hard on this for the last three years and we deserve this,” the 30-year-old said.
“We have proved we belong to the top-four in Asia,” said Jordan coach Mario Palma.
“Two years ago we missed it by a whisker. But this time the boys are determined and are playing some very good basketball,” Palma added.
“We want to push it as far as we can,” Philippines coach Joseller Guiao had said in an interview to this website after the quarterfinal entry.
For sure the SEABA champions pushed their West Asian rivals hard right through.
“We knew it won’t be easy. I am glad we got our rebounds the fast breaks when we needed them,” said Jordan coach Mario Palma.
Jordan led 22-17 at the end of the first quarter, but Philippines scored the first seven points of the second to move ahead 24-22.
Jordan leveled the scores there and went ahead 27-22, but Willie Miller Jr sank a three-pointer to put Philippines on par again.
That’s exactly the point where Jordanian centre Ayman Idais began to assert his influence on the game.
The 205-cm 31-year-old fired three three-pointers with Sam Daghles’ free-throw conversion interspersing the last two and Jordan surged ahead with a 10-0 run – the longest run of the game.
A run that put Jordan always ahead for the rest of the game.
Idais scored 13 – including finding the mark thrice off five three-pointer attempts – of his game’s 20 points during the second half.
Rasheim Wright took over after that, scoring 15 of his game-high 21 points, in the second quarter.
Zaid Abbas pulled down a game-high 16 rebounds and Sam Daghles had a game-high nine assists.
Philippines outscored Jordan by three points in the third quarter and by four in the fourth quarter – including an 11-3 run in the first five minutes of the fourth quarter.
And Idais’ second quarter burst proved decisive in the final analysis.
“We wanted to stay close and make our move in the fourth quarter, which is exactly what we did,” Guiao said.
“But they woke up well in time. In the final analysis, we should feel happy for bettering our last time finish,” he added.
Gabriel Norwood’s 11 points was the highest in Filipinos’ all-round scoring.
S Mageshwaran
FIBA Asia
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