By Sophie Mosleh
Jordan’s Jazira outclassed their neighbors Wehdat in a fast-paced game, soaring to over 100 points Saturday night at the Sport City Center in Amman.
Jazira’s rapid techniques truly showed the crowd what experience and talent was all about, leading five minutes into the game and maintaining the lead throughout the second quarter with a score of 42-21.
Wehdat couldn’t keep up with such quick-handled plays and tried to tone down their playing style a notch – taking more care with passes and shots. Success finally found Wehdat when they decreased the scoring difference dramatically by the end of half-time. Jazira still held the lead 49-33.
During the second-half, Wehdat knew the game was pretty much over and they concentrated more on trying to maintain a low score difference rather hoping to win the game, but their defense was very weak and Jazira, seeing this, took advantage of the situation, increasing their lead further after five minutes to 71-47 and an enormous 81-57 within eight minutes left of the game.
Wehdat, feeling desperate, couldn’t stay focused leaving Jazira to soar over the 100 mark and finally ending the game 106-75, humiliating Wehdat in the process.
Bulgaria Torment Saudi Arabia
During the match between Bulgaria’s Yambolgas and Saudi Arabia’s Al-Ansar, the Saudi’s suffered one problem, which happened to be the most vital – they had no tall players.
Bulgaria on the other hand were stocked up with the tallest and most professional players, Iassinski, an expert three-point shooter, and Demourine, with quick-handled passes.
Bulgaria controlled everything under the ring – rapid passing and sharp shooting, giving them the lead 20-12 within the first eight minutes of the game and 44-31 at the end of the first-half.
The same situation repeated itself during the second-half, Bulgaria maintained the lead and ten minutes later, the score was a profound 66-44.
The Saudi’s knew that had no chance of winning the game, but played a too slow-paced and careful game to add any kind of scoring difference and even the crowd knew what the result would be, reporters and photographers started getting restless and leaving the center.
A final score of 95-70 saw the Bulgarian’s as one of the stronger sides of the championship and perhaps the hardest one to challenge.
There will be two matches Sunday night:
Al-Ahly [Egypt] Vs Wehdat [Jordan] 6:15 p.m. local time
Orthodox Club [Jordan] Vs Al-Ahly [Jordan] 8:30 p.m. local time -- Albawaba.com
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