AIA 86-69 Kazakhstan (46-27)
Athletes in Action kept improving as the quickly-assembled team got familiar with each other and now working as a cohesive unit. On the opposite side, Kazakhstan gradually lost its steam with each passing day.
Combine these two factors together, you get a lopsided game like AIA's 86-69 win today. The U.S. representative improved to tournament-best 4-1.
The Americans used a 22-9 second quarter to make the game out of reach. Brett Winkelman of North Dakota State had another brilliant outing with 19 points to go with 10 boards while Jamel McLean (Xavier) also turned in a double-double with 19 and 10.
Kazakhstan, which suffered three straight losses after opening the tourney 2-0, was led by Seva Fadeikin's 18 points. Anton Ponomarev had 16 points and 8 rebounds.
Australia 84-78(OT) Jordan (32-38, 72-72)
Jorden Page had a game-high 23 points, including seven in overtime, as Australia youngster rallied in the final 15 minutes and beat the older and experienced Jordan NT 84-78 in overtime.
Trailing by 11 points in the first quarter, Australia never gave up. It cut the deficit to six at the half and trailed by only three after three quarters.
Australia had a 12-4 run in the last five minutes and took the lead 72-70. Al-Sous' jumper tied the score at 72 all with three seconds to go and sent the game into over time.
Page then took over, scoring five straight points on a three-pointer and two free-throws to open the extra session as Australia gained the momentum just in time and recorded their third win in the tournament.
Center Mitchell Young had two crucial blocks in the 4th quarter, providing the much-needed momentum for this youngest team in the eight-team tournament. Australia is now 3-2 and tied with Jordan.
Qatar 86-62 Korea
Korea managed to stay with Qatar for five minutes before hell freezed over. Qatar pounded the Koreans on the boards 48-26 and limited their fearsome three-point shooting to 25%, pushing the lead to 10 points after the first quarter and cruised to an easy win.
Led by Daoud Mousa who scored 20, five Qatari players reached double-digit scoring. Ali Turki Ali had 10 points and 12 rebounds.
Choi Yun-ho had 23 points and Heo Il-young scored 13 for Korea university select team, which remained winless after five games.
Egypt 88-67 Taiwan
Not many expected Taiwan to win this game, after all, Egypt finished for fourth in the last African Championship and Taiwan NT was actually a national second team, but not many expected them to lose by 21 points either.
For 10 minutes spanning the first and second quarter, Taiwan failed to score. That gave Egypt a 25-0 run and the rest was history. Taiwan cut the deficit to 14 in the second half but that's the best they could do.
Rami Gunady had 18 points, shooting 6 for 11 from three. Mohammed El-Kerdany scored 16 points while Tarek El-Gannam pulled down 13 boards.
Taiwan was led by Yang Che-yi's 17 points. Ouyang Ching-heng had 16.
Standings:
1. Athletes in Action 4-1
1. Qatar NT 4-1
3. Jordan NT 3-2
3. Egypt NT 3-2
3. Australia U-19 3-2
6. Kazakhstan NT 2-3
7. Taiwan NT 1-4
8. Korea Univ. Selects 0-5