BEIJING (China) - The Dominican Republic flirted with disaster but ultimately turned it down escaping with a thrilling 80-76 victory over a determined Jordan side which rallied from a 16-point deficit for a frenzied finish in the opening game of Group G festivities in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019.

Jordanian big man Ahmad Al Dwairi was a man on a mission scoring a tournament-high 34 points with 21 of them coming in the first half but the Americas side had the perfect antidote - outside shooting.

The Dominicans started hot to open the game with a 13-4 lead including three triples and parlayed it to 8-of-16 three-point shooting in the first half while the Jordanian fired blanks 0-of-5 from the rainbow country and faced a 36-47 deficit at the end of the first half. 

Jordan was not going to let their opponents off and launched a relentless attack in the second half which saw them take the lead with 1:49 left in the final canto off an Al Dwairi lay-in to take a 74-73 lead but ultimately ran out of gas in the end.

Turning Point:  Facing a huge momentum swing in the final moments of the game, Luis Montero completed a back-breaking play with a tip-in off a Rigoberto Mendoza miss to beat the shot clock and give the Dominican Republic a 77-74 cushion with 28 ticks left on the clock. Jordan Al-Dasuqi had the chance to tie the game but missed a wide-open triple with 10 seconds left that sealed the win for the Dominicans.

TCL Player of the Game: Ronald Roberts impacted the game outside of the boxscore with his hustle and defense. The 28-year old recorded 11 points, 6 rebounds and had the highest plus-minus in the game with an efficiency of 15 to lead the Dominican charge.

Stats Don't Lie: The Dominican Republic shot a scintillating 42 percent (11-of 26) from the three-point line compared to a measly 20 percent clip (3-of-11) from the Jordanians. In the international arena, shooting and spacing are at a premium and it showed in this game.

Bottom Line: The Dominicans have finally won a FIBA World Cup Basketball opening game after their 1978 loss against Czechoslovakia (82-81) and in 2014 against Ukraine (72-62). It was a virtual must-win game for them as they have a tall task ahead with European powerhouse teams France and Germany up next in their schedule.

They said: "Great team victory. We are very happy. We played good defense, especially in the first half. They played better basketball in the second half. It's very important because it's the first victory for the Dominican Republic to start a World Cup. We are very happy because we had four players in double figures and three with nine points. This is because we played as a team." - Dominican Republic head coach Nestor Garcia

"It was a great game. We came out strong with good energy. In the third quarter we kind of let things slip away and we dropped our energy. I think it's important for us at a World Cup to know that every team can play. Basketball is a game of runs and it's very important for us to keep our foot on the gas the whole game because they want to win just as much as us. Saying all that, we are glad that we got the win and now we have to prepare for Germany." - Dominican Republic forward Ronald Roberts

"It was a tale of two halves. We really didn't play well defensively in the first half. We gave them too many open looks and they shot a really high percentage in the first half. In the second half, I really think we defended well and our defense created some offense. We were able to get out in transition. We attacked the basket. Dwairi had 34 points. We thought we could really get him going offensively inside and he did a great job attacking the basket. Dar Tucker played a good game offensively and I think he did a good job attacking the basket as well. We just have to find some scoring from some other players. If we can get other guys involved, we'll have a great chance to win one of the next two games." - Jordan head coach Jordan Stiebing 

"We didn't start how we wanted. They were more aggressive on defense and they were pressing the ball the whole court. We played a better game in the second half. We were almost there, we were up by one, but we made some silly mistakes and we gave them some offensive rebounds and they won the game. For most of the players, this is the first time for them and they need experience. Maybe they were a little bit nervous, it’s normal. But we will gain experience and we look to the future now. I am proud of them. We made a good comeback in the second half.” - Jordan center Ahmad Al Dwairi 

FIBA