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| Iran, Taiwan, Japan, and the Philippines all advance to the quarterfinals of the 2014 FIBA Asia Cup! |
Day 5 of the 2014 FIBA Asia Cup in Wuhan, China saw Gilas
Pilipinas barely survive a gutsy Jordan crew, while the mighty Iranians had to
rally to beat a confident Indian quintet.
In the first game, India showed good form at the
star, outscoring the reigning FIBA Asia champions, 20-13, in the first quarter
behind the exploits of big man Amritpal Singh, who held his own against Iranian
giant Hamed Haddadi with 6 points. Iran gained some ground and cut the deficit
to just 3 points at the half, but it was clear that India wasn’t intimidated
one bit by their WABA foes. Coach Memi Becirovic’s wards then put the pedal to
the metal, opening things up in the third quarter before cruising to their
third win in four games. The frontline duo of Haddadi and Arsalan Kazemi shone
through here with a combined 29 points, 17 rebounds, 4 steals, and 3 blocks. On
the other end of the floor, athletic forward Amjyot Singh led the fight for
India with 17 points, 5 boards, and 4 assists on 7/9 FG shooting. Iran books
the second seed in Group A, while India advances as the fourth seed.
In game #2, Japan wasted no time dismantling
Indonesia, 96-56. Behind the scoring punch of the Takeuchi twins, Team Hayabusa
forged a 14-point lead in the first quarter that it would not relinquish
throughout the game. Coach Kenji Hasegawa’s wards actually built on it even
more and carried a commanding 32-point advantage heading to the break. The
outcome was pretty much beyond doubt at that point, and all that was left to
wonder was the final tally. In the end, Japan finished group play as Group A’s
third seed, while the Indons saw themselves booted out of contention. Five
Japanese finished in double-figures, led by 15 points each from Yusuke Okada,
who drilled 4 triples, and 22-year-old Tenketsu Harimoto. Indonesia, meanwhile,
got 13 points from Xaverius Prawiro, while half-Filipino Biboy Enguio tossed in
10 markers.
In the day’s third match, the Filipinos squandered an
early double-digit lead and had to go through the wringer to beat the inspired
Jordanians, 71-70. Gilas Pilipinas led by as many as 11 points early in the
second quarter before hitting a dry spell and allowing Jordan to claw back into
the game and tie the score at halftime. Al Nashama then took the initiative in
the third period and looked like they might just spring an upset against the
World-Cup-bound Pinoys, but big shots by Ranidel De Ocampo, Beau Belga, and
Paul Lee doused the flames and restored order in the final frame. Jordan still
had a golden chance to steal the victory in the end, though, but Wesam Al-Sous
misfired on a potentially game-winning open three. Lee and De Ocampo combined
for 30 points to pace Gilas, while big man Marcus Douthit rebounded form a
scoreless outing against Singapore by dropping 13 points and 9 boards. Jordan,
meanwhile, was led by Al-Sous’s 14 points while young center Ahmad Al-Dwairi
impressed with a 13-point, 14-rebound double-double.
The nightcap featured a blowout win for Taiwan over
Singapore, 86-65. The Taiwanese started strong here, erecting a 17-point bubble
after the first ten minutes and then proceeded to coast the rest of the way,
registering their second win in three contests. Taiwan finishes group play as
Group B’s second seed, and it will go up against Japan in the crossover
knockout quarterfinals. Despite its third straight defeat, Singapore also
qualifies by default as the fourth seed, and it will face the hosts, China, in
the next phase. Once again, the duo of Hanbin Ng and Wei Long Won starred for
Singapore, scoring 17 and 16 points respectively. Taiwan, meanwhile, was led by
Chang Jun-Hsuan, who drained 20 points in just 17 minutes of play. He shot 8/12
from the field. Lin Chih-Wei and Chen Ying-Chun also did well for Taiwan with
10 points apiece.
Here are the quarterfinal match-ups:
A1 vs B4: China
vs. Singapore
B2 vs A3: Taiwan
vs. Japan
B1 vs. A4: Philippines
vs. India
A2 vs. B3: Iran
vs. Jordan
BOX
SCORES:
Day 5:
IRAN over INDIA, 62-49
IRI 62 - Haddadi 16, Kazemi 13, Zangeneh 7, Mashayekhi 6,
Jamshidi 6, Veisi 5, Yakhchali 5, Sahakian 4, Arghavan 0, Lalehzadeh 0,
Kardoust 0
IND 49 - Singh Amj 17, Singh Amr 11, Bhriguvanshi 7, Singh
Y 5, Singh J 3, Pari 3, Pethani 2, Singh P 1, Grewal 0, Mishra 0, Sivakumar 0,
Brar 0
QS: 13-20,
26-29, 48-36, 62-49
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| Amritpal Singh had the hot hand in the first quarter. |
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| Behnam Yakhchali goes up strong against India. |
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| Saman Veisi has taken on primary PG chores for Iran. |
JAPAN over INDONESIA, 96-59
JPN 96 - Okada 15, Harimoto 15, Ono 13, Takeuchi J 11,
Ishizaki 10, Ota 9, Kikuchi 8, Takeuchi K 4, Tanaka 4, Hiejima 4, Shonaka 3
INA 59 - Prawiro 13, Enguio 10, Dhyaksa 8, Irman 8, Regowo
6, Sanjaya 4, Dimanik 2, Gerungan 2, Effendi 2, Ramadhani 2, Jati 2
QS: 25-11,
56-24, 80-39, 96-59
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| Daiki Tanaka pulls up against Indonesia. |
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| Muhammad Irman tries to take a shot in traffic. |
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| Ryumo Ono challenges Ferdinand Dimanik. |
PHILIPPINES over JORDAN, 71-70
PHL 71 - Lee 16, De Ocampo 14, Douthit 13, Dillinger 9,
Belga 7, Tenorio 4, David 4, Alas 2, Fajardo 2, Aguilar 0, Lanete 0, Washington
0
JOR 70 - Al-Sous 14, Al-Dwairi 13, Wright 11, Al-Awadi 9,
Al-Hamarsheh 7, Hussein 7, Eid 7, Abu Ruqayah 2, Abdeen 0
QS: 17-12,
30-30, 49-52, 71-70
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| Jared Dillinger goes up in transition. |
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| Marcus Douthit gets a slam against Ahmad Al-Dwairi. |
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| Wesam Al-Sous goes hard to the basket. |
TAIWAN over SINGAPORE, 86-65
TPE 86 - Chang 20, Chen Y 10, Lin 10, Chou 8, Peng 7, Hu 7,
Liu 6, Lee 6, Lu 4, Chen K 4, Chen H 2, Davis 2
SIN 65 - Ng H 17, Wong 16, Oh 9, Lim 7, Goh 5, Ng J 5, Toh
2, Soo D 2, Ng S 2, Han 0, Soo P 0, Low 0
QS: 28-11,
44-31, 68-44, 86-65
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| Hanbin Ng rifles one from the perimeter. |
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| Taiwanese big man Lee Te-Wei shows his range. |
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| Lu Chi-Min is not fazed by the Singaporean D. |
Unless
otherwise specified, all images are from FIBA-Asia.
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