2013 FIBA Asia Men’s Championships Roundup: Day Five

Second round action continued on Day 5 of the 2013 FIBA Asia Men’s Championships at the ultra-modern Mall of Asia Arena, and the highlight was definitely another great performance by the home team on its way to beating Qatar.

Gary David gave Gilas a big lift off the bench.

In the first game of the day, Jimmy Baxter netted just 2 points, but Jordan is going to win with their naturalized player Jimmy Baxter scoring just 2 points. Instead, locals Mohammad Hadrab and Mahmoud Abdeen led the way for Al Nashama with 21 and 13 points respectively. Hadrab shot 7/10 from the floor and added 7 rebounds, with fellow frontliner Mohammad Hussein also doing well with 8 markers and 7 boards. Hussein had to play extra minutes because usual starter AJ Zaghab was nursing a sprained ankle. Meanwhile, Hong Kong was paced by the 10 points of Fong Shing Yee. JOR boosts its second round slate to 1-3, while HKG drops to 0-4.

Wesam Al Sous goes up for the two.

Mohammad Hadrab goes underhand against
Duncan Reid of HKG.

The second game of the day featured the Bahrainis put a bit of a scare in the Iranians at the half before coach Memi Becirovic re-inserted his starters. Once inside, Samad Nikkhah Bahrami, Hamed Afagh, Mahdi Kamrani, and Hamed Haddadi all conspired to widen the gap and blast the Red Wolves out of the water. Bahrami led Iran with 17 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 steals, while Afagh had 15 markers, 3 dimes, and 2 swipes. Bahrami and Afagh paired up for 7 of Iran's 8 triples. Bahrain, meanwhile, was paced by the combined 29 markers of Mohammed Al Derazi and Hussain Al Tawash. Iran goes up to 4-0 in Group F, while Bahrain drops to 1-3

Asghar Kardoust drives past the Bahraini D.

Ahmed Najaf tries to collar the board against
Iranian behemoth Hamed Haddadi.

In the third game, Taiwan pulled off another escape act, this time doing just enough to get by the stubborn Japanese, 79-76. Team Hayabusa did a really swell job of sticking to Taiwan for the entire game, but the undefeated Taiwanese were just steadier in the endgame, hitting their free throws and making key stops. This time it was long-haired big man Tseng Wen-Ting who paced Taiwan with 19 points on 6/10 FG shooting, while super wingman Lin Chih-Chieh contributed 16 markers and 6 rebounds. On the other end, Kosuke Takeuchi remained Japan's most consistent weapon, scoring 17 points and grabbing 7 rebounds, while Kosuke Kanamaru dropped 14 markers but made just 1/6 three-point attempts. Taiwan now moves up to 5-0, while Japan falls into a must-win situation against Jordan tomorrow.

Lin Chih-Chieh gets challenged by Ryota Sakurai.

Kosuke Takeuchi fights for the loose ball against Quincy Davis.

In the fourth game of the day, India stuck around for about 10 minutes and then fell to bad habits and just got blown out by a much more experienced and well-drilled Chinese side, 79-45. Despite missing Yi Jianlian and Liu Xiaoyu, the Chinese of coach Giannakis Panagiotis were able to throttle the Indians from the second period onwards. Despite the relative equality in size up front, China dominated the paint, outrebounding India 39-31 and outscoring them around the basket, 34-28. The young pair of Wang Zhelin and Guo Ailun led China with 18 and 16 points respectively. Wang also recorded 9 rebounds and 3 steals. On the other end, India had just one guy score in double-figures -- Amjyot Singh, who dropped 16 markers  with 4 boards and 3 assists. China levels its Group F standing to 2-2, while India tumbles to 0-4.

Wang Zhelin hoists a shot against Amjyot SIngh.

Amrit Pal Singh goes up for the easy deuce.

The fifth game of the day featured the Thais having a solid chance of gaining thirteenth spot until the Saudis turned up the jets in the fourth period to thwart the SEABA squad, 93-80. Fahad Belal spearheaded the Gulf quintet's victorious charge with 21 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists, while Marzouq Al Muwallad added 20 points and 10 assists in a scintillating display of playmaking. He will surely be one of the top guards in Asia in a few years' time. Thailand's losing cause was led by Attaporn Lertmalaiporn and Anasawee Klaewnarong, who scored 15 points apiece. The War Elephants lost their fourth game in five outings, while the Green Falcons finally notched a win after three straight defeats.

Marzouq Al Muwallad helped Saudi cop 13th place.

In the sixth game, Gilas Pilipinas gave itself a legit shot at claiming the #1 spot in Group E by surviving Qatar, 80-70. This stands as the first time any Filipino NT has beaten a Qatari NT in FIBA Asia play at the men's level, but, perhaps more importantly, it kept alive Gilas's hopes of avoiding a quarterfinals clash with any of the Group C teams. The home team outgunned Al Ennabi, 43-24, in the middle two quarters to blow the contest wide open before the Gulf champs were able to cut the deficit down to single digits late in the final frame. The Pinoys hung tough, however, and secured their fourth win of the tourney and second in round two. Marcus Douthit led Gilas with 19 points, 14 rebounds, 4 assists, and 1 block even as Japeth Aguilar provided a huge lift off the bench with 14 markers, 7 boards, and 1 rejection, while shooting 5/6 from the floor. Jarvis Hayes led Qatar with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Coach Tom Wisman's boys found their rhythm a little too late here as they shot just 33% from the field and 19% from beyond the arc. Gilas also outrebounded Qatar, 53-41, while the Pinoy bench outscored their Gulf-based counterparts, 37-18. Gilas now totes a +5 quotient index relative to Qatar and Taiwan, and Pinoys will be rooting for the Qataris to defeat Taiwan tomorrow by 1 to 15 points. If so, Gilas lands at #1 in Group E for the crossover knockout rounds. If Qatar beats Taiwan by more than 15 points, Qatar becomes #1, but if Qatar loses, then Taiwan retains the top spot.

Jarvis Hayes is shadowed by Gabe Norwood.

Jayson Castro gets hacked by Mohammed Yousef.

The day ended with South Korea cementing its hold on the #2 spot in Group F by upending an overmatched and seemingly fatigued Kazakh quintet, 71-47. Korea connected on 9 triples and capitalized its advantage in rebounding and ball movement to thwart the Snow Leopards. Kim Min-Goo and Kim Sun-Hyung led the Taeguk Warriors with 14 points each, while Cho Sung-Min scattered 12 markers. On the other end, only Jerry Johnson scored in double-digits with 15 for Kazakhstan. Korea now carries a 3-1 Group F card and will await the result of tomorrow's Qatar-Taiwan match to see which team it will face in the quarterfinals. Meanwhile, things won't get any easier for Kazakhstan as Team Iran awaits them in their next game.

Lee Seung-Jun battles for the board with
Mikhail Yevstigneyev.

Matteo Boniciolli looks on as his team is slaughtered.

2013 FIBA Asia Championship Standings

Group E	Wins	Losses
Taiwan	4	0
Qatar	3	1
Philippines	3	1
Japan	1	3
Jordan	1	3
Hong Kong	0	4

Group F	Wins	Losses
Iran	4	0
Korea	3	1
Kazakhstan	2	2
China	2	2
Bahrain	1	3
India	0	4

BOX SCORES:

JORDAN over HONG KONG, 80-54

JOR 80 - Hadrab 21, Abdeen 13, Al Sous 8, Hussein 8, Al Hamarsheh 7, Al Najjar 7, Abu Qoura 6, Al Dwairi 4, Al Faraj 4, Baxter 2

HKG 54 - Fong 10, Lau Tu 8, Lam 7, Lee 7, Lau Ts 6, Chan S 5, Reid 5, Li 4, Wong 2, Chan Y 0, Szeto 0

QS: 18-9, 37-24, 63-40, 80-54

IRAN over BAHRAIN, 75-56

IRI 75 - Bahrami 17, Afagh 15, Kardoust 12, Kamrani 9, Haddadi 9, Veisi 5, Sahakian 4, Davoudi 2, Arghavan 2, Jamshidi 0, Davari 0, Sohrabnejad 0

BRN 56 - Al Tawash 15, Al Derazi 14, Quwayed Y 8, Malabes 7, Quwayed M 4, Aziz 3, Mallalah 3, Mubarak 2, Najaf 0, Azzam 0

QS: 23-6, 30-27, 63-41, 75-56

TAIWAN over JAPAN, 79-76

TPE 79 - Tseng 19, Lin 16, Tien 10, Chen 10, Davis 8, Tsai 7, Lu 6, Yang 3, Lee 0, Hung 0, Chou 0, Creighton 0

JPN 76 - Takeuchi 17, Kanamaru 14, Salurai 13, Sakuragi 10, Tanaka 8, Tsuji 6, Kurihara 5, Ota 2, Ichioka 1, Hiejima 0

QS: 22-25, 44-41, 61-59, 79-76

CHINA over INDIA, 79-45

CHN 79 - Wang ZL 18, Guo 16, Wang ZZ 16, Zhou 9, Zhu 7, Li 5, Sun 4, Zhang 4, Wang S 3, Chen 0

IND 45 - Singh Amj 16, Grewal 9, Singh Amr 9, Pethani 5, Bhriguvanshi 2, Singh Y 2, Bhamara 2, Singh P 0, Kaushik 0, Singh J 0

QS: 22-14, 45-20, 60-29, 79-45

SAUDI ARABIA over THAILAND, 93-80

KSA 93 - Belal 21, Al Muwallad M 20, Al Muwallad A 12, Al Marwani Mo 11, Kabe 8, Al Husawi 7, Al Sager 7, Al Marwani Ma 5, Abo Jalas 2

THA 80 - Lertmalaiporn 15, Klaewnarong 15, Tongsri 12, Dasom 9, Klahan 8, Ghogar 8, Apiromvilaichai Dn 7, Apiromvilaichai Dg 6, Kongkum 0, Lertlaokul 0

QS: 23-27, 52-51, 70-68, 93-80

PHILIPPINES over QATAR, 80-70

PHL 80 - Douthit 19, Aguilar 14, Chan 12, Tenorio 7, Castro 7, Alapag 5, David 5, De Ocampo 4, Norwood 3, Pingris 2, Fonacier 2, Fajardo 0

QAT 70 - Hayes 17, Saeed 13, Abdi 9, Musa 8, Daoud 8, El Hadary 5, Yousef 4, Baker 4, Abdullah Mo 2, Ali 0, Abdullah Ma 0

QS: 20-20, 47-29, 63-44, 80-70

KOREA over KAZAKHSTAN, 71-47

KOR 71 - Kim MG 14, Kim SH 14, Cho 12, Lee JH 8, Lee SJ 7, Yang 6, Yoon 2, Kim JS 2, Kim JK 2, Choi 1, Kim TS 0

KAZ 47 - Johnson 15, Sultanov 9, Bondarovich 6, Ponomarev 6, Yargaliev 4, Mrzagaliev 4, Yevstigneyev 3, Klimov 0, Zhigulin 0, Lapchenko 0, Bazhkin 0, Dvirnyy 0

QS: 16-14, 38-27, 57-36, 71-47

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