Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and his Jordan squad responded strong in the midst of a big rally by Gilas Pilipinas and pulled off an impressive 87-62 victory in the Asian Games men’s basketball competition on Saturday night at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center.
The Jordanians bounced back strong, unloading a 22-4 run after losing a big lead, and taking a 74-56 lead midway the fourth period.
That spurt practically took the fight out of the Philippines, which started strong but couldn’t sustain it for the most part of the match.
The Philippines went off to a hot start, leading 13-6, with naturalized player Justin Brownlee hitting 3-of-4 shots, but Jordan closed out the period with a 10-0 run to take a 16-13 lead going to the second period.
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, the naturalized player of Jordan, then presided in the second period.
A Best Import winner in the Philippine Basketball Association Governors’ Cup last season, Hollis-Jefferson put up a bundle of baskets, including a jumper to close out the second period and give Jordan its biggest lead, 42-29.
In the third, the Philippines fought back with a 19-6 run capped by a Japeth Aguilar short stab that levelled the count at 48-all.
Then came the big respond in the fourth where Hollis-Jefferson led the charge and the rest of the squad got their guns going as Jordan officially secured a spot in the quarterfinals after going undefeated in three games.
