ALMATY (Kazakhstan) – Praneeth Udumalagala’s breathtaking three-pointer tilted the scales in his side’s favour as Sri Lanka carved out a thrilling 72-65 win over Kyrgyzstan before Palestine came up with a stoic and solid performance to silence the crowd at the Baluan Sholaq Sports Palace while beating Kazakhstan 80-67 in the Group B games of the FIBA Asia Cup 2029 Pre-Qualifiers on Friday.
Palestine’s win – third in as many games – booked a place for the WABA team in the Second Round, while Sri Lanka with two wins from three games moved a step towards that goal.
One would sympathize with Kazakhstan coach Alexandr Lyssyak if he was left wondering on the elements his team lacked in posing a fight to Palestine.
The WABA team, on the other hand, who have repeatedly made the grade from the Pre-Qualifiers looked more purposeful throughout. Even when the hosts staged a rally to cut the deficit to two, the smallest Palestine conceded in the game after the initial skirmish, the latter looked rather poised to maintain focus.
Brian Halums was the chief architect of the Palestine campaign with a 26-point effort before fouling out early in the final period.
Orthodox Ramallah compatriots Mohammed Abushamsiya and Jamal Mayali combined for 28 points in the Palestine cause.
Veteran center Vladimir Ivanov’s 13 points kept Kazakhstan afloat.
Last-gasp effort
There was little to choose between Sri Lanka and Kyrgyzstan with neither able to ascertain any dominance.
With the game tantalizingly poised with parity on the scoreboard and 17 seconds left on the clock, Udumalagala side stepped one defender and unleashed before the defence could recover that put Sri Lanka 68-65 ahead.
In the ensuing routine foul-marked stoppages, Suman Athapaththu Mudiyanselage was bang on target on all the four occasions he was drawn to the foul-stripe to keep the Sri Lankan ship sailing.
Udumalagala’s game-winning effort came capping a 22-point effort for the game, along with 7 rebounds.
Simron Yogananthan was their leading scorer with 27 points.
Nazim Adylbekov was once again Kyrgyzstsan’s most conspicuous player on both ends of the floor with 18 points and 22 rebounds.
Sunday’s action will see Maldives take on Palestine while Kazakhstan will be involved in a CABA Derby against Kyrgyzstan.
FIBA