India lose to Jordan in FIBA World Cup qualifiers

Bengaluru:  Indian basketball team put up a spirited fight before losing 88-102 to higher-ranked Jordan in the Asian qualifiers for the 2019 FIBA World Cup at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium here.

This was India’s third defeat in as many games and Satnam Singh s men are now at the bottom of Group C.

Aravind Annadurai carried his impressive form to lead the Indian team with 28 points and 11 rebounds. Satnam Singh also maintained his consistency by dropping 20 points along with 8 assists and 4 powerful dunks.

Debutant guard Justin Joseph also impressed in his first senior international game dropping 16 points but India couldn’t convert the chances and went down fighting.

India made a strong start but Jordan took the lead in the end of the first quarter and maintained it throughout the game.

In the 3rd quarter, India was down 13 points but they showed some signs of a comeback, narrowing the lead to 61-66 but they couldn’t keep up with the same intensity in the final quarter.

For Jordan, Hussein (19pts), Tucker (18pts) and Abdeen (18pts) were the star performers.

India will now face Lebanon on February 26.