AMMAN (Jordan) - The Philippines and Lebanon claimed wins to top their groups and advance to the Semi-Finals. Meanwhile, Syria and Kazakhstan get important wins in Gameday 3 of the FIBA U16 Women’s Asian Championship 2022 Division B

Tipping off the day in Division B were the Philippines and Samoa with the former coming out on top, 94-65, to stay undefeated. The win also clinched the top spot in Group A for the Philippines, landing them a direct spot at the Semi-Finals.

Kristan Yumul has been one of the best players so far in Division B, and kept her string of good performances going with 22 points on 5 three-pointers in this game.

Kristan Yumal had 22 points on 5 three-pointers

For Samoa, it was another big game for Kira-May Filemu who had 28 points, 27 rebounds, and 7 assists in the losing effort.

The second game of the day was a dramatic one, involving Syria once again. This time, Syria were able to avoid defeat, beating Indonesia 75-74.

The win for Syria came off immediately after a heartbreaking loss to the Philippines in the previous day when they came from being down by a large deficit. Syria were down by as much as 14 points in this game as well, and even as much as 9 points in the fourth quarter. But, once again, Syria never gave up and willed their way back into the game despite getting knocked back by Indonesia clutch bucket after clutch bucket.

That’s only where the drama begins.

Following a pair of turnovers by both teams in the final minute with the score at 74-72 in favor of Indonesia, Syria’s Suzan Backour gained control of the ball with an open lane in transition. As she was about to get the opportunity to score, Backour was fouled and sent to the line for two free-throws.

However, after getting fouled and falling to the floor, Backour was slow to get up. She’d eventually needed to leave the floor with an injury, leaving the clutch free throws to be taken by Julie Khreim, who had played only 8 minutes at this point with one missed field goal attempt in the box score.

Khreim ended up scoring her first and only point of the game on the first free-throw attempt, but missed the second attempt to tie the game. Before Indonesia could celebrate, Syria’s Sounia Jamsakian grabbed the offensive rebound, only to miss the putback attempt.

Syria still didn’t allow Indonesia to celebrate, as Simel Alahmar grabbed the offensive rebound again and shot the ball just as the buzzer sounded.

The shot fell in, leaving it Syria’s turn to celebrate their hard earned victory.

Alahmar was Syria's best performer with 23 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals on 8-11 shooting with 5 three-pointers

Aside from hitting the game-winner, heroine of the game Alahmar was also their best performer with 23 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals on 8-11 shooting with 5 three-pointers without resting for a single second. Aya Almohammad was also key to the win with 21 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, and 7 steals.

There was just as much drama in the third game of the day as Lebanon beat Jordan, 60-56.

The game was tight throughout the first three quarters as the two teams traded leads back and forth for a total of 9 times. Jordan gained the lead heading into the fourth quarter, but they still needed more. In order to maximize their chances of getting to the next phase of the competition, Jordan needed to win by at least 13 points. And they were up by 11 points with 5 minutes left in the game!

However, Lebanon cranked up the pressure and went on a 15-2 run to close the game and come away with the win.

Nour Labban was Lebanon’s clutch performer, first knocking down the three-pointer to tie the game at 56 and then getting the steal and layup in transition to take the lead for good. She’d end up sinking another free-throw to ice the game for good measure. Those 6 points were nearly all the points Labban scored in the game as she recorded 8 points while also having 6 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 steals. Eliza Khoury lead in scoring for Lebanon with 16 points.

The final game of the day went to Kazakhstan as they beat Iran, 56-46.

Kazakhstan led for most of the game, Iran were always a threat to overtake the lead and the two teams did switch leads 9 times. In the end, Iran were held scoreless for the last 5 minutes of the game, leaving the victory for Kazakhstan to claim.

Annastassiya Knaub was spectacular as usual with a double-double of 13 points and 16 rebounds. Meanwhile, Anna Kochura led the team in scoring with 16 points.

Iran’s Farnaz Khodamoradi tried to carry Iran with 12 points, 12 rebounds, and 5 assists, but it was not enough to get the win.

With the results of today’s games, the Philippines and Lebanon come out on top of their groups and head on directly to the Semi-Finals which will be played on 29 June.

As second place in Group A, Syria will face Iran who finished third place in Group B. These two teams will play to qualify for the Semi-Finals where the winner will face against Lebanon.

On the other side of the bracket, the second place team in Group B Kazakhstan will face the third place team in Group A Samoa. The winner of this game will advance to the Semi-Finals to play the Philippines. Both of the Qualifying games to the Semi-Finals will be played on 28 June.

FIBA