KUWAIT (FIBA Asia Stankovic Cup): Leading contenders Kazakhstan needed the Overtime to beat hosts Kuwait 85-82 in the second FIBA Asia Stankovic Cup on Saturday.

Hosts Kuwait did rather well to lead for the most part of their game, but fumbled in the dying moments to hand over the initiative to their rivals.

Anton Ponomarev leveled the scores for Kazakhstan at 73, but failed to complete the three-point play.

And when they played the ball into play, Kuwait’s Ahmad Almutairi saw his attempt off a lay-up bounce off the rim to force the Overtime.

Rustam Yargaliev took charge of the scoring in the extended period for Kazakhstan, converting five free-throws to help the Middle Asia nation to their second win from as many games.

Kazakhstan take on Jordan, on Sunday, while Kuwait take the day off.

Fortunes swung like the proverbial pendulum for a better part of the game in the regulation time.

Kazakhstan called the shots initially and nudged ahead in the first half.

But Ahmad Almutairi and Abdulaziz Mohammad combined well to help Kuwait on a 9-0 run and put the hosts 51-43 ahead midway through the third quarter.

A lead they managed to maintain till Ponomarev equaled the scores in the final minutes.

“Playing against Kuwait at home, we knew would always be tough,” said Kazakhstan coach Vitaly Strebkov.

“But I’m glad we worked well together as a team,” he said.

Four Kazakh players finished in double figures and MVP of the game Alexander Tyutyunik finished with nine.

Scores

Kazakhstan 85 (Anton Ponomarev 17, Vsevolod Fadeikin 16, Rustam Yargaliyev 15, Maxim Voyeikov 14) bt Kuwait 82 (Abdulaziz Mohammad 21, Abdullah Alsarraf 19, Ahmad Almutairi 15). Quartewise Scores: 19-18, 41-37, 56-57, 73-73.

S Mageshwaran
FIBA Asia