Ahmad Al Dwairi (C) of Jordan goes up for the basket during the group G match between Dominican Republic and Jordan at the FIBA World Cup 2019 in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong province, on Sept. 1, 2019. (Xinhua/Xu Chang)
SHENZHEN, China, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) -- Jordan Al-Dasuqi missed a key 3-pointer when his team trailed by 79-76 as the Dominican Republic kicked off their FIBA World Cup campaign with an 80-76 win over Jordan in Group G here on Sunday.
The Dominicans put up an attacking game with four players scoring in the double digits. Liz Victor had a team-high 15 points and Vargas Eloy added 12. Ahmad Al Dwairi scored 34 points for Jordan.
Dominican Republic opened the game with an 8-2 run, before Jordan fought back hard to take 17-17 with a Dar Tucker 3-point play. Dominican Ronald Ramon scored five points before the first quarter finish, helping them to a 22-17 leading.
The second quarter belonged to Dominicans Lius Montero and Ramon. They combined 12 points in the single quarter, entering the halftime break leading 47-36.
The Dominicans blew a 16 point lead after Eloy's layup with 5:08 left in the third period. Jordan answered with a 10-3 run to close the gap to 61-53.
The Dominican Republic lost their rhythm in attacking at the beginning of the last quarter. Al Dwairi hit a layup helping his team take the lead, but the Dominicans showed their ability on key balls and still won a tough match.
"We did a really good job, especially in the first half," said Garcia Nestor, Dominican Republic head coach. "We have 4 players who scored over 10 points, and 3 players had 9 points. We played team basketball."
"We are looking forward to the next two games. France and Germany are great national teams. We know the games are difficult, but we'll try our best," Nestor added.
