2013 FIBA Asia Championship: Jordan finishes seventh with romp over Kazakhstan

Jordan rolled to a one-sided win over Kazakhstan, 88-59, on Sunday at the MOA Arena, to finish seventh in the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship.

Both sides made it to the round of eight, but Jordan got blown out by Iran, before falling by three to China in the consolation bracket. Kazakhstan on the other hand was overwhelmed by the Philippines, and then dropped a close one to Qatar.

Jordan led from start to finish, as a Jimmy Baxter triple made it 19-8 with 5:34 left in the first quarter. He later added a split at the line with 47 seconds to go to double up on their opponents' score, 30-15, but Jerri Jonson canned a triple with two ticks remaining to make it 30-18 after one quarter.

Mikhail Yevstigneyev got it down to a single-digit difference between the two teams, barely a minute gone by in the second, 30-21, but that was the last time they got that close.

An 11-0 run by Jordan made it 41-21 after a Baxter find led to a score by Mohammad Shaher Hussein, three minutes in. It reached a high of 26 multiple times in the quarter, the last coming on a Mahmoud Abdeen connection, 55-29, but a dunk by Kazakhstan's Dmitriy Klimov ate slightly into their deficit, 55-32 at the half.

The lead breached the 30-point mark halfway through the third after an Ali Zaghab dunk made it 66-35. Baskets by Mahmoud Abdeen and Ahmad Alhamarsheh bumped that up to 35 at the 3:38 mark, before Nikolay Bazhkin and Timur Sultanov knocked down twin triples to trim the lead heading into the fourth, 73-44.

The Kazakhs started the fourth with a steal and a Mikhail Yevstigneyev bucket, but it was all Jordan after that to end the game at 88-59.

Mahmoud Abdeed led the Jordanians with 20 points, 12 coming on four treys. Hani Alfaraj had 15 points and four rebounds, while Mohammad Hussein and Ahman Al Dwairi chipped in 10 each.

Rustam Yargaliyev top-scored for Kazakhstan with 17 points, as no other Kazakh posted points in double figures. Mikhail Yevstigneyev had nine, while Dmitriy Klimov added eight. - AMD/RAF, GMA News


The scores:

Jordan 88 - Abdeen 20, Alfaraj 15, Baxter 12, Hussein 10, Al Dwairi 10, Abu Ruqayah 8, Alnajjar 5, Alhamarsheh 4, Zaghab 2, Abuqoura 2

Kazakhstan 59 - Yargaliyev 17, Yevstigneyev 9, Klimov 8, Bazhkin 7, Sultanov 5, Jonson 4, Ponomarev 4, Zhigulin 3, Bondarovich 2, Lapchenko 0

Quarter scoring: 30-18, 55-32, 73-44, 88-59