JEDDAH (Saudi Arabia) - After failing to complete the comeback against Saudi Arabia, India redeem themselves with a 79-77 come-from-behind victory over Palestine to keep their Asia Cup hopes alive.

Palestine started the game on fire as they jumped out to a 25-13 lead at the end of the first quarter. Kyndall Dykes busted out of the gates on fire by going for dunks and knocking down threes. He’d finished the game with 32 points, 7 rebounds, and 10 assists.

The game continued to be in Palestine’s favor over the next two quarters, but India kept within striking distance. Palestine were down by as much as 14 points, but cut it down to only 9 before the start of the fourth quarter.

India then proceeded to mount their comeback rally with a 13-2 run in the middle of the final quarter, sparked once again by the sharpshooting of Joginder Singh. The 33-year-old was key to India’s run against Saudi Arabia in the previous game, but to get his team closer than 3 points on route to a defeat.

The script was flipped this time round as Singh’s three-pointer tied the game up at 67 in the middle of the fourth quarter, allowing India to gain control of the tempo. India proceeded to claim their first lead ever in this game with two free-throws by Amritpal Singh and never looked back.

Palestine tried to stay in the game with three-pointers from Ahmed Haroon and Dykes, but a missed layup in the final seconds by Sani Sakakini (22 points, 14 rebounds) left them just shy of pushing the game to overtime.

Joginder Singh was the spark that boosted India back in the game with 12 points on 4 three-pointers, but it was high-level production of their twin towers that shined brightest. Amritpal ended up with 30 points on 12-19 shooting and 12 rebounds, while Amjyot Singh had 23 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists of his own.

The victory brings India’s record in the Qualifiers to 1-1. They will now have to wait for the result of tomorrow’s game to see if their streak of nine Asia Cup appearances will be broken.

That game will be between Palestine and Saudi Arabia at 18:15 PM (GMT +3). Saudi Arabia have the upper hand by having already won by 19 points in their first game, but Palestine will definitely not back down.

FIBA