2013 FIBA Asia Championship: Iran books semis ticket with rout of Jordan

(Updated 4:55pm) Iran waited two long years to get back at Jordan for eliminating them in the 2011 FIBA Asia Championship. They were finally able to get their revenge by blowing out Jordan, 94-50, on Friday at the MOA Arena, in the quarterfinals of the 2013 edition of the regional tourney.

With the win, Iran kept its undefeated run intact and qualified for the semifinals, to be played tomorrow. They now await the winner between Chinese and Chinese Taipei.

Jordan on the other hand was relegated to the classification phase of the competitions.

“Our goal in this competition is to be the champion,” said Aren Davoudichegani. “We weren’t thinking about the last time when they beat us. We only think about our game today.”

Iran started the game with a 7-0 run before Jimmy Baxter registered Jordan’s first two points at the 7:44 mark. A triple from Hamed Afagh with 5:44 left in the period then gave Iran their first double digit lead of the game at 15-4.

Hamed Haddadi, Afagh, and Samad Nikkah Bahrami scored at will against the Jordan defense. They were joined by Oshin Sahakian, who produced five straight points late in the first quarter for a 25-16 count in Iran’s favor.

Hadadi missed a very long triple to end the first quarter, but Iran still had a commanding 31-11 lead after the first 10 minutes.

A triple from Jimmy Baxter cut the Iranian lead down to 21 at 37-16 with 5:53 left in the second quarter. However, Haddadi went to work in the following minutes to add more to Iran’s big lead. He scored on a two-handed dunk and followed it up with a three-point play at the 3:25 mark for a 46-22 count in their favor.

After another Haddadi basket, Baxter sank another triple to bring the Iranian lead down to 23. Mahdi Kamrany and Sahakian finished the quarter with five straight points though for Iran to build a 53-28 buffer heading to the halftime break.

Haddadi led all scorers with 15 points at the half while Afagh added 11. Baxter top-scored for Jordan with 11 markers.

Iran dominated the boards in the first half as they doubled Jordan’s 10 first half rebounds.

Kamrany scored the first three point of the quarter with Sahakian adding a three-point play at the 8:44 mark. By that time, Iran’s lead had ballooned to a whopping 31-points. Sahakian added another three-point play on their next possession for a 62-28 lead.

Jordan got some points on the board thanks to long shots from Baxter and Mohammad Hadrab, but it was too meek a reply to the onslaught that was the Iranian offense.

Things got worse for Jordan as Baxter was called for a technical foul with 4:55 left in the third, leading to two Haddadi free throws plus ball possession for Iran. Jordan coach Evangelos Alexandris was also called for a technical foul, which led to Iran’s lead climbing to 39 points after the free throws that followed.

Iran went into the fourth quarter with a 74-36 lead.

“My players were very concentrated in this game,” said Iran head coach Mehmed Becirovic. “We were 55 percent from two points, 46 percent from three points and 86 percent on free throws. We never do like this,” the coach added.

The Iranians cruised through the fourth quarter as their fans showered them with cheers. But they had a nervous moment when Hadadi went down at the 3:48 mark of the fourth clutching his right knee. Hadadi checked out of the ball game as he limped to the bench, but it looked like it was just a minor injury.

With less than a minute left in the game, Jordan’s Khaldoon Abu Ruqayah elbowed Kardoust, which sent the big man down. Abu Ruqayah was then called for an unsportsmanlike foul as he shoved Mohammed Jamshidijafarabadi.

“Me and my teammates, we played very bad. I'm disappointed with the result but that is basketball. Tomorrow is a new day and we will try to get the best possible result,” said Wesam Al-Sous.

“There’s a big difference now between basketball in Iran and basketball in Jordan. I hope the people in Jordan get this message.”

Hamed Haddadi finished with 20 points and eight rebounds, plus three blocks. Hamed Afagh notched 18 markers on 6-of-7 shooting, including a 4-of-5 clip from downtown, while Oshin Sahakian contributed 14 markers, making all five of his attempts, plus nine boards.

Naturalized player Jimmy Baxter was the only Jordan player in double figures with 13 points on 4-of-14 shooting. Mohammad Hadrab added eight points.

Iran shot 52 percent from the field, including 10-of-22 (45 percent) from beyond the arc. They also made all but three of their 21 free throws. Jordan on the other hand was allowed only a 28 percent shooting clip, and were 15-of-25 from the stripe.

The glass was also dominated by Iran, 41-24. They also got 19 turnover points after 17 Jordan turnovers. - AMD, GMA News


The scores:

Iran 94 - Haddadi 20, Afagh 18, Sahakian 14, Kamrany 11, Jamshidijafarabadi 11, Nikkhah Bahrami 8, Sohrabnejad 5, Arghavan 3, Kardoust 2, Davari 2, Davoudichegani 0, Veisi 0

Jordan 50 - Baxter 13, Hadrab 8, Zaghab 6, Alhalmarsheh 5, Al Dwairi 4, Abu Ruqayah 4, Al-Sous 3, Alfaraj 2, Abuquora 2, Abdeen 2, Alnajjar 1, Hussein 0

Quarter scoring: 31-11, 53-28, 74-36, 94-50