Jordan come up clutch to deal Korea another heartbreak

DOHA (Qatar) - Omar Hijazi showed up in the clutch for Jordan, lifting his team to a narrow 62-59 victory over Korea.

It was the second heartbreaking defeat in the competition for Korea after losing their opening contest to New Zealand in an unsuccessful come-from-behind attempt.

Both teams split their moments in the lead with Korea even going up by 6 points - their biggest lead of the game - in the fourth quarter. However, Jordan - whose 7-point in the third quarter was their biggest of the game - rallied and claimed the last lead change in the final seconds on a strong drive by their star player, Omar Hijazi.

Jordan had two players recorded double-double, Omar Hijazi (25 points, 12 rebounds) and Mohammad Ibrahem (14 points, 10 rebounds).

Korea's leading scorers were Taein Kim (14 points) and Daniel Edi (12 points).

Standout player: Omar Hijazi rebounded from a quiet game against New Zealand for 25 points on 11-15 shooting from the field, 12 rebounds, and 3 blocks for an EFF of 34. Of course, there was also the clutch go-ahead basket to give Jordan the advantage in the final seconds.

Turning point: With 33 seconds left in the game, Omar Hijazi miss the backend of his trip to the free-throw line which would have given Jordan the lead. However, he was able to collect the offensive rebound off a long bounce and then attack the basket again for the go-ahead points - the last lead change of the game, sealing the victory for Jordan.

Stats don't lie: Jordan dominated the glass against Korea with a 52-33 advantage. More than they, they had 15 offensive rebounds to Korea's 19 defensive boards - the most important one was which game Hijazi the opportunity for his go-ahead basket attempt.

FIBA