BEIRUT (Lebanon) & JEDDAH (Saudi Arabia) - Lebanon avoid the upset bid made by Indonesia, but Jordan weren’t able to do the same against Saudi Arabia in Group C action of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 Asian Qualifiers.

Lebanon put the clamps on Indonesia, breaking out for a 32-8 third quarter in yet another blowout win, 110-64.

The final result spoiled the efforts of Indonesia and Brandon Jawato who managed to keep the game tight for the first two quarters. Indonesia trailed by only 7 points at the half time buzzer, led by 20 first half points from Jawato who drew cheerful chants from the Indonesia fans in Beirut.

As a team, they did a better job of moving the ball to find their shots and rotating on defense compared to the previous encounter.

It didn’t take long for Lebanon to regain control of the momentum and take over completely. With a flurry of three-pointers (15) and forced turnovers (21), Lebanon continued to add on to the lead before resulting in yet another big win.

Defense was the key for Lebanon after allowing only 17 points in the entire second half. They also kept Jawato scoreless for the last 20 minutes.

Seven players scored in double-digits Lebanon, led by Wael Arakji’s 19 points and Ater Majork’s 18 points.

Lebanon still sit comfortably at the top of Group C with two straight wins, while Indonesia stay at the bottom with two straight defeats.

For a second straight game, Saudi Arabia held the lead late in the fourth quarter against Jordan. Unlike the first time around, Saudi Arabia were able to hang onto their advantage to claim their first ever World Cup Qualifiers win, 72-64.

Both teams played quick and physical basketball, but it was Jordan that were able to take control of the lead in the first half, 39-31. Saudi Arabia were struggling to get the ball through the rim and it looked as if the momentum was in favor of the visiting side.

Unfortunately, Jordan had to learn the hard way that Saudi Arabia are certainly one of those teams that benefit from the energy boost provided by their home crowd.

Fired up by the home crowd, Saudi Arabia hustled in transition and for offensive rebounds to get back in the game. Big plays by Nassir Abo Jalas on both ends of the floor fueled the energy of Saudi Arabia on their way to holding a 5-point lead with 5 minutes to go in the game.

Though the situation was similar to that of which they faced 3 days ago in Amman, they were able to calm themselves down this time and close the game out in their favor.

Both teams struggled from the floor with Jordan shooting only 38.2 percent compared with Saudi Arabia’s 32.8 percent. However, Saudi Arabia shot better from beyond the three point line and the charity stripe which was enough to make the difference.

Saudi Arabia featured a well-balanced offense with 8 players scoring at least 6 points. Khalid Abdel Gabbar was the main offensive weapon once again with 15 points and 10 rebounds.

Jordan were led by Amin Abu Hawwas who had 18 points, but also got a big game from Hashem Abbas who had 7 points and 12 rebounds in just his second game for the senior national team.

FIBA