Indonesia Loses Again To Lebanon In FIBA World Cup Qualifiers, Coach: They Are Stronger And Experienced

JAKARTA - The Indonesian national team lost again to Lebanon with a score of 64-110 in the second match of the first window of the 2023 FIBA World Cup qualification in the Asian zone at the Nouhad Nawfal Sports Center, Zouk Mikael, Monday night.

With this result, the Red and White squad are at the bottom of Group C with two points. While Lebanon is at the top with four points, Saudi Arabia is in second place with three pounds, and Jordan is third with three points.

In the second match, Indonesia, which appeared without Lester Prosper because he was still tested positive for COVID-19, had to fight extra against Lebanese players who had bigger stature.

During the match, the Indonesian national team kicked off immediately in the first quarter. Brandon Jawato opened Indonesia's points with a three-point shot. Two points from Vincent Rivaldi Kosasih kept Indonesia ahead 5-4 in the early minutes of the first quarter.

After that, Indonesia continued to try to produce points. However, in the first quarter, Merah Putih had to fall behind 21-29.

Entering the second quarter, Indonesia's resistance is getting fiercer. Andakara Prastawa and his friends were able to get 26 points while Lebanon had 25 points. However, when entering the third quarter, Lebanon was able to reverse the situation so that they added 32 points while Indonesia's production of eight points.

In the final quarter, Lebanon increasingly dominated by adding 24 points and Indonesia only managed to get nine points. Until finally Indonesia had to admit the greatness of Lebanon after losing with a score of 64-110.

Brandon Jawato became Indonesia's top scorer with 20 points, six rebounds, and two assists. While the Lebanese stronghold, Ater Majok came out as the player with the best performance after contributing the most points with 18 points and 11 rebounds.

The coach of the Indonesian Elite National Team, Rajko Toroman, acknowledged the opponent's superiority. He also congratulated Lebanon who performed better than Indonesia.

"Congratulations to Lebanon. They are better than us. We made adjustments on the pitch but they are indeed stronger and more experienced," Rajko said in his official statement on Tuesday.

Indonesia still has four matches in Group C of the FIBA 2023 World Cup qualifiers in Asia, against Saudi Arabia on February 24, 2022, and July 1, 2022, and against Jordan on February 27, 2022, and July 4, 2022.