2019 FIBA World Cup Qualifiers: India Crash Out with a Loss in Do-or-Die Game Against Syria
Lebanon: Indian Men's Basketball team lost to Syria in a close encounter on Thursday by 76-81 in the 1st match of the Window 3 games of the FIBA World Cup Qualifiers in Lebanon.
India made more turnovers in first two quarters as Syria lead India by 21-12 in the first quarter and defense of India is so weak in the first quarter and Syria took advantage and Syria extend the lead by 43-30 after halftime.
Final Scores:
India played well but missed several opportunities in the final minutes to lose Syria by 81-76 and thus India lost all the opportunities to qualify for the world cup.
Top Scorers:
Points: Satnam Singh with 18 points.
Rebounds: Arvind Arumugam and Satnam Singh with 8 Rebounds each.
Assists: Akilan Pari with 5 Assists.
Satnam Singh topped the score sheet for India with 18 points and 8 rebounds within 27 minutes and along with Satnam Singh, Arvind Arumugam and Arshpreet Singh Bhullar helped India to get back into the third and fourth quarter as India lead Syria in both third and fourth quarter.
Arshpreet Singh Bhullar hits with 14 points and Bhullar leads the top scorers' chart after Satnam Singh and Arvind Arumugam with 12 points with 17% efficiency in the game.
Thrilling third and fourth quarter:
After Syria lead India by 44-30 after halftime then India managed to get straight 12 points at the end Syria leads India by 64-56 after the third quarter. A top performance by Arvind Arumugam and Arshpreet Bhullar India managed to get near to the scoreline of Syria by 68-66 but Syrians take the advantage of mistakes made by Indians and seal their berth in world cup qualifiers.
Indian Men's Basketball team lost 5 games in a straight row and placed themselves in last place at the points table and Syria qualified for the second round along with Jordan, Lebanon and World Cup journey over for Indian Men's Basketball team.
India will take on Jordan in the last and final game of the FIBA World Cup Qualifiers games on July 1 in Jordan.