China escape 70 – 69 against Jordan to clinch the 2011 FIBA Asia Championship
On Sunday, 25 September 2011, China barely managed to outlast an underdog but spirited Jordanian side to clinch the 2011 FIBA Asia Championship title and with it, sealed a berth for the 2012 London Olympics.
Jordan has been the break out team in this tournament, beating power house Iran and Philippines enroute to the finals, and they nearly caused another upset in Wuhan.
The game that ended 70 – 69 to China was close throughout, with Jordan matching their superior opponents all the way. They were led by shooting guard Rasheim Wright, who ended with a game high 26 points. Osama Daghles was also
a force with 10 points and 8 boards.
The Chinese relied heavily on Jianlian Yi. The forward recorded a team high 25 points, and also dominated on the glass, grabbing a game high 16 rebounds. Wei Liu also scored 13 point for the Chinese.
From the start of the game, Jordan showed that they meant business. While some could be forgiven for thinking that the minnows would be in awe of their opponents at the big stage, in actuality, they came out firing right from the
beginning.
Within 3 minutes of the start they raced to a 7 – 3 lead. Afterwards the Chinese gained a foothold in the game and the quarter ended with China just ahead 16 – to – 15.
Jordan really took the bull by the horns in the second period with a spirited showing. The team looked inspired and their offence proved particularly troublesome for the Chinese. When the quarter ended, China found themselves behind
at 36 – 31.
Next, it was China’s turn to turn on the offensive. The men from the Far East came out of the interval with renewed vigour, no doubt jolted into action by their first half deficit. China bombarded the Jordanians early in the third
quarter, scoring 9 points without reply to wipe out all leverage gained by their opponent earlier.
To their credit, Jordan didn’t lie down in the face of the Chinese onslaught and after receiving a battering at the start, they went toe to toe with their rivals for the remainder of the third quarter.
The result was that the teams went into the final period with the game finely poised at 59 – 56 , advantage China.
Nerves clearly played a part in the 4th quarter. With so much pride at stake, the defences wizened up and the game slowed down after two blitzing quarters previously. After some back and forth action, Jordan managed
to close in on the Chinese and finally pulled level at 69 with just 1:32 seconds left on the clock.
In the passage that followed, the Jordanians missed three shots in succession, while the Chinese missed two as the game, and the tournament, entered its final 30 seconds. This was where Yi got fouled and drained one of his two
free-throws, putting China ahead by a solitary point.
Jordan then had a chance to win the game, however they missed both shots taken in the final six seconds of the game, and China held on for the win. Jordanians couldn’t believe that they had failed after coming so close while China
breathed a sigh of relief for being let off right at the end.
The win means China go to the Olympics in London next season. Jordan however still have a chance in the qualifying tournament and the side will definitely be proud of their amazing performances in the tournament.
Tags: