MANILA (Philippines) - Egypt and Jordan were in a close battle for 40 minutes. Despite clearly having tired legs on both sides of the floor, the game went down to the wire, with Egypt ending on top, 85-69 the final score.

That win sends Egypt to 2-2 and keeps them in the hunt for automatic qualification as the best African team in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023. Jordan are still winless in Manila.

Turning point: The game was tied at 66-all entering the final five minutes. Coach Roy Rana ordered his guys to focus on the defensive end, and they held Jordan scoreless for three minutes, taking a seven-point lead with just over two minutes to play.

That was enough to keep Jordan at bay, they allowed just one more field goal the rest of the way to pick up a win without the drama in the end, while keeping the tempo offensively to open up a convincing win. Going +16 could be worth a lot in the final standings.

TCL Player of the Game: Assem Marei knew he was in for a long day against Ahmad Dwairi, but he did not back away from that challenge. The center collected a massive 20-point, 14-rebound double-double, with 2 steals and 2 blocks also to his name.

Stats don't lie: Jordan had a hard time controlling the painted area, and Egypt kept finding ways to get to the rim. A 50-26 advantage in paint points was way too big for a close encounter like this one.

Bottom line: Egypt are now waiting for their game against New Zealand on Saturday, with a chance to have a winning record at the end of the competition. For a squad that has not won a World Cup game since 1994 before arriving here, that's a successful run, for sure.

They will keep an eye on South Sudan's game, too. Those two are the frontrunners to win automatic qualification to Paris 2024.

As for Jordan, it was clear Rondae Hollis Jefferson was exhausted in this one. He scored 9 points while playing the entire game, allowing Sami Bzai (18 points) and Ahmad Dwairi (17 points, 11 rebounds) to take the scoring load. Jordan have one last chance to pick up a win in Manila, playing versus Mexico on Saturday.

They said:

FIBA