Jordan, Korea remain unbeaten

TIANJIN — Korea and Jordan emerged among the early favorites to challenge China for the crown with both coming out strong with a 2-0 start in the 25th FIBA Championship here.

The Koreans followed up a 77-62 whipping of Japan Thursday with a 122-54 demolition of Sri Lanka while the Jordanians also made it two in a row with an 84-67 win over Lebanon Thursday and a 105-47 massacre of Indonesia yesterday.

Lebanon, losing finalist thrice in the last four stagings of the biennial meet, rebounded from a loss to its cross-border neighbor Jordan as it walloped United Arab Emirates, 108-38.

Wildcard bet Chinese Taipei, losing a close game to defending champion Iran Thursday, got into the win-column in smothering Kuwait, 73-51.

China, Iran and Qatar were expected to also make it two in a row later in the day.

The Koreans seized the spotlight in the early morning match, stamping their class on the hapless Sri Lankans for the early lead in Group A.

Lee Kyu Sup fired 28 points, Bang Sung-Yoon rifled in 24 and 7-foot-3 center Ha Seung-jin added 13 points on 4-of-5 field-goal shooting to lead the Koreans who are out to improve their third-place finish in Tokushima, Japan in 2007.

The Koreans started with a 15-0 run and hardly slowed down in fashioning out their 68-point rout of the Sri Lankans.

The Jordanians were as overpowering even as they played minus key players Zaid Alkhas and Sam Daghles against the Indonesians.

Jordan, under Portuguese coach Mario Palma, is an emerging power in region. It narrowly missed a third straight championship in the recent Jones Cup competition in Taipei. – Nelson Beltran