KAZAKHSTAN kickstarted its bid to qualify for the 2021 Fiba Asia Cup with an emphatic 111-52 domination of Sri Lanka Thursday at Khalifa Sport City in Bahrain.
Naturalized player Anthony Clemmons led six Kazakh players to crack double digits in their rousing debut inside the Manama bubble, tallying 14 points, five assists, and two rebounds.
Vadim Chsherbak added 13 points and four assists, Anton Bykov got 12 points and six rebounds, while Alexandr Zhigulin, Anton Ponomarev, and Askar Maidekin all scored 10 in the 59-point demolition.
The game was the first Fiba-sanctioned game of the year, with a slew of qualifying games forced to cancel due to the new COVID-19 strain outbreaks in previously selected host cities like Doha, Qatar.
Nevertheless, Kazakhstan showed no mercy, shooting 54-percent from the field, including 10-of-28 clip from deep, while also lording the boards over Sri Lanka, 57 to 25.
The emphatic win allowed Kazakhstan to zoom to the top of Group F with its 2-1 card, ahead in points over idle Jordan (2-0) which had to withdraw from the Manama bubble as 10 members of its delegation tested positive for the virus upon their arrival in Bahrain.
Fernando Nimesh paced Sri Lanka with 13 points and four assists, while Clinton Stallone Thevakumar had 11 points and eight dimes in the defeat and remain winless at 0-3.
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