JORDAN came up with a strong return from long layoff as it fended off Palestine in a wire-to-wire 88-77 win to remain undefeated in the 2021 Fiba Asia Cup qualifiers on Saturday at Prince Hamza Hall in Amman.
After missing the second window due to COVID-19 cases within the team, the Jordanians came back strong and started off with a 17-3 assault before denying the Palestinians' repeated rallies.
Sami Bzai led that early onslaught and finished with 19 points on 4-of-10 shooting from deep, to go with six rebounds and four assists.
Bzai's three with 4:42 remaining made it an 81-59 affair as Jordan was hardly threatened and cruised to its third win in as many games and move atop of the table in Group F.
Freddy Ibrahim had 17 points, six dimes, and five boards, while Ahmad Alhamarsheh had 16 points, 10 rebounds, two assists, and two steals.
Ahmad Al Dwairi carried the fight for the bench mob with 20 points, six rebounds, and five assists as Jordan outmatched Palestine, 27 to 1 in bench scoring.
The Jordanians will seek to formally book their ticket to the continental cup when they take on Kazakhstan (4-1) on Sunday evening.
Kyndall Dykes topscored for Palestine with 31 points, seven rebounds, and five assists, while Sani Sakakini flirted with a triple-double with 23 points, 10 assists, and nine boards, yet hardly got any help from their supporting cast.
The Palestinians fell to 2-3 and will try to avenge this loss in a rematch against Jordan on Tuesday.
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