2014 FIBA Asia Cup Roundup: Day 3

Day 3 in Wuhan produced very interesting results!

Day 3 of the 2014 FIBA Asia Cup in Wuhan, China had very interesting results highlighted by India’s HUGE upset of the Chinese.

In the first game, Singapore stuck with the bigger and more experienced Jordanians for an entire half before losing steam in the last two quarters and falling short, 53-70. Wei Long Wong had a tournament-high 33 points on 10/18 FG shooting, including 4 triples, to pace the very game Singaporeans. Wong also did well in other aspects, grabbing 10 rebounds and getting 2 steals in 35 minutes of action. He was the lone bright spot for coach Kwang Loong So’s crew, who will face the Filipinos in their next game. Jordan’s twin towers, Ahmad Al-Dwairi and Mohammad Hussein, dominated here, combining for 23 points and 17 rebounds, while swingman Ahmad Al-Hamarsheh recorded a 13-point and 10-rebound double-double. Rasheim Wright added 14 markers to pace Jordan’s scoring. Jordan will have a rest day before taking on the Pinoys in their next encounter.

In game #2, Indonesia surprisingly stuck close to the FIBA Asia champions in the first twenty minutes of action before the Iranians flipped the switch and blew the game open in the second half to win, 77-47. Biboy Enguio led Indonesia’s charge with 16 points, but nobody else scored more than 6 markers for coach Rastafari Horongbala. On the other end, the frontline duo of Asghar Kardoust and Arsalan Kazemi shone through with 18 and 12 points respectively. Kardoust also added 9 rebounds, while Kazemi, fresh form a stint in the NBA Summer League, collared 13 boards and had 4 steals. Youngsters Arman Zangeneh and Sajjad Mashayekhi also impressed with 11 and 12 points respectively. This was a nice bounce-back win for Iran, which lost to China in its previous game. They can wrap up their Group A games with a win over the dangerous Indians on July 15.

In the day’s last match, the hosts, China, fell victim to the vastly improved Indians, 58-65. The Chinese started really sluggishly in this game but were able to recover and take a two-point advantage going into the final quarter, but India leaned on the hot shooting of Pratham Singh to book the biggest win in its basketball history. Singh scored 11 of his 13 points in the payoff period, hitting three triples and a couple of pressure-packed free throws to seal the huge upset win. India played really hard all throughout, frustrating the Chinese with their tenacious defense and timely hits. Athletic forward Amjyot Singh played really well with 13 points and 5 rebounds, while Vishesh Bhriguvanshi dropped 10 markers. Coach Scott Flemming was visibly pleased on the sidelines, but he wasn’t really surprised at the result, since they’ve been training really hard the past year. Zhou Qi, Gao Shang, and Dong Hanlin paced the hosts with a combined 34 points. Coach Wang Huaiyu’s wards had 23 turnovers and shot just 55% from the free throw line.

BOX SCORES:

Day 3:

JORDAN over SINGAPORE, 70-53

JOR 70 - Wright 14, Al-Hamarsheh 13, Al-Dwairi 12, Hussein 11, Al-Sous 9, Al-Awadi 5, Eid 4, Abdeen 2, Al-Najjar 0, Hadrab 0

SIN 53 - Wong 33, Lim 8, Ng H 3, Han 3, Goh 2, Soo D 2, Ng S 2, Oh 0, Toh 0, Low 0, Ng J 0

QS: 15-15, 33-26, 56-43, 70-53