MANILA: Qatar bounced back from the loss to the Philippines, beating Chinese Taipei 71-68 in a bruising match-up here yesterday in the 27th Asian Men’s Basketball Championship.
Qatar now ties Chinese Taipei with a 4-1 group record but trails because of score differences.
The match also gives the host Philippines the chance to top the Group F if they beat Hong Kong in a later match.
After a 15-all first quarter, Qatar was able to slip ahead by a point following the second and third quarter, 29-28 and 49-48, respectively.
In the final period, Jarvis Hayes forged a game-high 12-point lead for Qatar but a late run from their foes cut the deficit to three with less than two minutes left.
Tian Lei’s layup tied the score at 68-all, but Daoud Mosa Daoud put Qatar in lead again.
Chinese Taipei could have forced overtime, but Tseng Wen-Ting’s attempt failed. Chinese Taipei suffered their first loss of the tournament.
“We are killed by rebounds. Our opponents had a good defense and gave our shooters few chance,” said Hsu Chin-Che, head coach of Chinese Taipei.
Yasseen Musa led Qatar with 20 points and 19 rebounds and the West Asian team might play against South Korea in today’s quarter-finals.AGENCIES
