Jordan stuns Iran in quarterfinal at FIBA Asia Championship

Jordan stunned tournament favorite Iran 88-84 in the quarterfinal of 2011 FIBA Asian Men's Basketball Championship here on Friday, spoiling the defending champion's dream of directly qualifying for the 2012 London Olympics. Only the winner will cruise to London while the runner-up and the bronze medalist have to play in the world Olympic qualifying tournament in July, 2012. Friday's defeat also means that Iran missed the chance to take its third straight Asian title. Iranian won the Asian championship in 2007 and 2009. Osama Daghles led Jordan with 23 points, five assists and three steals. He scored six free-throws in the final 33 seconds to help Jordan seize the victory. Zaid Naem Alkhas' three-pointer with 1 minute and 46 seconds to the end put Jordan in leading position by 80-78. Hamed Afagh's bad pass to Hamed Hadadi wasted Iranian's final opportunity to win the match. Iran's 17 turnovers were their undoing, giving Jordan 23 points. It was a tough match for both sides as the lead changed 11 times. Zaid Abbas, who grabbed a team-high seven rebounds for Jordan, fouled out at six minutes and 42 seconds to the end of the match. Hadadi played for the entire 40 minutes and took a match-high 27 points and 14 rebounds. Arsalan Kazemi had 13 points and 16 rebounds. Samad Nikkhah Bahrami, who was injured in Wednesday's match against South Korea, came from bench to play the whole second half and took eight points. Iranian coach Veslin Matic blamed his team's failure on injuries. "Javad Davari and Bahrami were both injured before this quarterfinal. Bahrami asked to play at the half time." said Matic. "I had to change our starting lineup. Young players had too much turnovers in the fourth quarter." Jordan avenged their 75-77 loss to Iran in the semifinal at 2009 Asian Championship in Tianjin, in which Jordan won a team-history-best bronze medal. "This is a win-or-go-home match," said Daghles. "Our country need us to win the match and I think the victory will excite the whole nation." "Before the match, Daghles told all teammates what our country did to support the team," said Anthony Thomas, head coach of Jordan. "Everyone got emotional and was eager to win the match. Even those who didn't come to China were with us. I'm proud of this team no matter they win or lose." Jordan will play against the winner between Chinese Taipei and the Philippines in Saturday's semifinal. Host China team's assistant coach Li Nan watched the whole match and refused to make comments. Iran as the defending champion was thought to be China's biggest obstacle to win the title which it had lost for six years.