JOR / UAE – Jordan take charge in second quarter, remain unbeaten

TIANJIN (FIBA Asia Championship) - Jordan opened up the game with a 26-11 second quarter dominance, cruised along thence to beat United Arab Emirates 79-67 and finished their preliminary Group A engagements winning all their three games.

UAE finished their outings in the group with a 1-2 win-loss record.

Zaid Abbas and Rasheim Wright were the lead campaigners in the Jordanian cause,

Zaid Abbas led the scoring with a double-double – 16 points and 12 rebounds.

Wright, with a 58% (7/12) record in field attempts returned 15 points.

After allowing UAE to call the shots in the first quarter, when they trailed 14-18, Jordan reeled in seven points in quicksilver fashion to go ahead 22-18 and didn’t look back.

Zaid Abbas scored five points and Wright drilled in six during the second quarter and Jordan were back on cruise mode taking a comfortable 40-29 lead into the change rooms.

Ayman Idais joined the party in the third quarter scoring twice in the paint and Zaid Abbas sank a three-pointer to put Jordan firmly in control.

UAE were left with an insurmountable task thereafter.

“We almost blew it up. We were so distracted and lost in the first quarter,” Jordan coach Mario Palma said.

“In a manner of speaking this is a blessing in disguise. Because I’m going to keep reminding the players about this game for the rest of the Championship on they should keep their focus on the job at hand,” he added.

“It’s a nice feeling, though going into the next round with three wins. But like I said, there are some real big teams waiting for us there. We need to improve and I think we will,” Palma said.

Mohammad Hadrab scored al his 11 points for Jordan in the fourth quarter, to make it even more difficult for UAE.

UAE, as a consolation took the individual scoring honours for the game – with Talal Alnuaimi scoring 18 points and Rashed Alzaabi 17.

S Mageshwaran
FIBA Asia

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