FIBA Asia C’ Ship Quarter Finals Review – Jordan upset Iran; Philippines end semifinals jinx: Part 1
The FIBA Asia Championship entered its penultimate stages on Friday, 23 September 2011, when all 4 quarterfinals took place. Here is the round up of the quarter finals stage.
Jordan 88 – Iran 84
The biggest upset in the quarterfinals, or perhaps in the whole tournament, took place in the quarterfinal as the red hot Iranian team was sent crashing out by the resilient Jordanians. Jordan took the game 88 - 84 after a closely
fought contest.
Iran had been favourites coming into the game and had enjoyed a great FIBA Asia Championship thus far. However, in the first game of the knockout stage, they failed to produce the goods when it mattered most. The Jordan side, on
the other hand, seemed to click at just the right time as they overcame a much stronger opponent.
Osama Daghles was the star of the show as he led Jordan with 23 points. He also had 5 assists and collected 4 rebounds. Rasheim Wright was another bright spot as he served up 6 assists and contributed 12 points to his team’s cause.
The Iranians were not their dominant self on the night but were still more than competitive. Hamed Haddadi was a force to be reckoned with throughout the game. He ended up with a game high point’s total of 27 and also grabbed 14
boards, including 7 on the attacking end. With the starters off colour, Arsalan Kazemi came off the bench to provide some solid minutes to his side, grabbing game high 16 rebounds and also scoring 13 points.
The game was in the balance most of the time, but Jordan outscored their opponents in the final quarter to secure the win and send Iran home.
Philippines 95 – Chinese Taipei 78
The Philippines completely outplayed Chinese Taipei 95-78 to secure a berth in the Semi Finals of the competition, for the first time in 25 years. Philippines were just too much for the Chinese Taipei on the night and dominated
the game after a nervy start.
The Filipinos were galvanized by the herculean efforts of Marcus Douthit. The centre was unstoppable throughout the night and amassed an astonishing 37 points. He completed his double-double by grabbing 10 rebounds.
Other than Marcus, Ranidel De Ocampo was also on song and came off the bench to score 18 points in the comfortable victory.
Wen-Ting Tseng produced the only real performance of note for the Chinese Taipei as he top scored for his side with 20 points.
The Chinese Taipei actually had a better start to the game and outscored their opponent in the first quarter. However, as the game progressed the Philippines showed their class and by the end of the third quarter it was clear that
only they were going to win the game.
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