The Philippines had to scramble in the fourth quarter
before scraping by host Qatar on Day 4 of the 2014 FIBA Asia U18 Championships.
Meanwhile, Iran, China, Taiwan, and Korea all remained undefeated.
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| Paul Desiderio slumps to the bench after his team pulled off a roaring comeback to beat Qatar in Group E. |
SCORES
& RECAPS:
Day Four:
TAIWAN over KUWAIT, 94-65
Taiwan outscored Kuwait, 29-7, in the third quarter
to open up a tight game and eventually
gain its fourth win in as many games. Point guard Lin Ming-Yi led the victors
with 17 points, while Hsu Hsuan-Yu and Tu Su-Han scored 16 and 15 respectively.
All those three guys combined for 9 of Taiwan’s 12 three-point bombs. The Tseng
boys (Po-Yu and Pin-Fu) combined to tally 23 points and 15 boards in support.
Kuwait, meanwhile, was paced by the 19 markers and 12 rebounds of Hamad Hasan.
JAPAN over KAZAKHSTAN, 80-81
This was a see-saw game throughout, with Japan
holding the lead at the half only to lose it in the third and Kazakhstan
holding a 5-point edge in the fourth only to succumb to some endgame lapses. The
Kazakhs held a five-point lead with under 4 minutes to go before Yuki Mikami
and Shota Tsuyama conspired in a crucial 8-2 spurt that gave Team Hayabusa the
lead, 79-78, with 1:37 to go. Igor Tinyayev then split his free throws to tie
the game before Akito Uchida hit the go-ahead basket, 81-79. Alexandr
Danilchenko had a chance to tie the game with 28 ticks to go, but he split his
freebies. After a Tsuyama miss, the Kazakhs had one final opportunity to steal
the game, but Balabiy Agabek misfired on an alley-hoop shot as time expired. Tsuyama
led Japan with 27 points on the strength of 4 treys while Mikami tallied a
dozen markers. Danilchenko had 23 points and 11 boards for Kazakhstan.
IRAN over HONG KONG, 107-42
Iran had no problems disposing of Hong Kong to open
its account in Group F. Team Melli utilized its inside muscle, outrebounding
Hong Kong, 63-29, and scoring 76 points in the paint. Mohammad Yousofvand led
Iran with 18 points and 7 rebounds in just 13 minutes, while Arash Banimahdi
and Armi Nazarian each tallied 15 markers in support. No Hong Konger scored
more than 8 points, with Ho Man Cho, Wai Hang Yip, and Yee Fu Ho each dropping
that much.
CHINA over JORDAN, 97-55
It took more than 5 minutes before Jordan could score
its first points of the game, underscoring the dominance of China throughout
this whole contest. China led by 19 at the end of one, more than doubled
Jordan’s score at halftime, and never looked back in running away with win #4. Sun
Minghui paced coach Fan Bin’s squad with 17 points, while Wang Zhengbo added
15. Both paired up for 7 of China’s 12 triples. Four other Chinese finished in
double digits. They take on the dangerous Filipinos and then the Koreans in
their next two assignments. Jordan saw three players break through the
ten-point barrier, with Zeyad El Ayan’s 13 markers leading the way.
PHILIPPINES over QATAR, 82-79
One day after choking in the fourth quarter and
losing to Malaysia, Qatar choked yet again and dropped an otherwise won game
against another SEABA side, the Philippines. Qatar led for the better part of
this match before key errors in the endgame sealed their collapse. Not even the
superb 35-point effort of pro player Abdulrahman Saad could turn the tide
permanently in the hosts’ favor. Coach Jamike Jarin leaned on his bench to
deliver the goods in this one. With usual reliables Radge Tongco and Andrei
Caracut struggling with their shots, the second-stringers came in and stole the
show. Dave Yu, Paul Desiderio, Richard Escoto, and Renzo Mosqueda conspired to
power Batang Gilas’s 46-point bench output, helping the Filipinos climb out of
a deficit that ballooned to as many as 15 markers. Yu, who plays for the NU
Bulldogs in the UAAP, led the scoring with 16 points on the strength of 4
treys, while Tongco, Desiderio, and 6’6 Kobe Paras each registered 13 points. The
Pinoys take on powerhouse China next and then conclude Group E play against
Malaysia.
KOREA over MALAYSIA, 104-61
Korea never let its foot off the pedal, blasting an
overmatched Malaysian quintet with superior strength in the paint and firepower
from the perimeter. As expected, big men Kim Kyung-Won and Song Kyo-Chang had
little trouble around the basket, finishing with a combined 26 points. Jeon
Hyun-Woo and Yang Jae-Hyuk, meanwhile, rained bombs on the Malaysians, pairing
up for 10 of Korea’s 16 triples. Jeon ended up with a game-high 22 points,
while Yang added 14. Malaysia, for its part, was paced by 14 points each from
Heng Yee Tong and Wong Yi Hou. Hotshot Wee Joon Lock was limited to only 6
points on 2/11 FG shooting.
Images are
from FIBA Asia.
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