Jordan stuns Philippines 75-61 win, Moves into the Finals - FIBA Asia Championship 1st Semifinal
In the first Semi-Finals of 2011 FIBA Asia Championship in Wuhan, Jordan took down Philippines 75-61. After a shaky start, the Jordanians saw off Philippines in the final three quarters and continued their amazing march towards
their first ever Asian title and an automatic spot in the 2012 London Olympics.
The win comes on the back of a stunning performance in the quarter finals, where they ousted the defending champions Iran 88-84. With tonight’s win, the Arabian side has established that the win over the Iranians was not a fluke.
Rasheim Wright was the star of the night yet gain. The Jordanian shooting guard who impressed in the quarters took over this time around and posted a game-high 24 points three rebounds, one assist and one steal. He finished the
night on an 8 of 15 shooting from the field and five of six from the free throw line.
Jordan made their move early and carved out a 4-0 lead. However, Philippines responded swiftly and initiated an 18-8 spurt to take an 18-12 lead at the close of the first quarter. Marcus Douthit chipped in with nine-points in the
period.
Philippines opened the second quarter with Ranidel De Ocampo’s two point shot and pushed the lead to 20-12.
Seeing the Filipinos pull away, the Jordanians bounced back with a 12-2 surge to draw out a 24-22 lead. However, they failed to carry the momentum and ended the first half one point behind Philippines (27-28), thanks to a Wright
three-pointer in the closing seconds of the half.
Jordan finally made the break in the third quarter. After facing some stiff resistance early in the quarter, the Jordanians thumped an 11-4 run in the second half of the period to secure a 49-41 lead going into the last 10 minutes.
In the fourth quarter, both teams remained scoreless for nearly two minutes before Philippines raced off to a 7 point unanswered run and made it a one point game at 49-48.
However, team Jordan didn’t allow Philippines to go beyond that and responded with 11-0 blitz to carve out a 60-48 lead. The bleeding continued for the Filipinos as Jordan extended their lead to 75-57, with just 1:26 minutes to
go. There was no way back for Philippines after that
Osama Daghles added 16 points and Abbas Zaid posted 14 points for the Jordanians. For Philippines, Douthit pounded 21 points and 15 rebounds while Joseph Casio scored 15 points for the losing side.
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