2013 FIBA Asia Championship: Qatar bests Taipei, sets up Philippines for top spot in Group E

(Updated 4:57pm) Qatar bounced back from a loss to the Philippines the previous night by dispatching group front-runners Chinese Taipei, 71-68, on Wednesday at the MOA Arena, in their final second round match.

Due to the quotients in play, the Qatar win, which was not more than 15 points, will give the host country a chance to claim the top seed in Group E, should they beat cellar-dwellers Hong Kong in their match, later Wednesday night.

As it stands, Qatar and Chinese Taipei are now tied in the Group E standings with 3-1 records.

"I think I could run for president of the Philippines right now, I might get a few votes," joked Qatar coach Thomas Wisman after the game, fully aware of the favor his team did for Gilas.

"It was a nice win for us against a quality team. We came here with the mindset that we needed to win by 16 points [to steal the first seed over Gilas]. When we got to 12 we just did not have enough gas to close it down," he said.

Qatar broke loose in the final period, ditching Chinese Taipei which had dogged them through the first three quarters. Muscling their way inside in the fourth, Qatar opened with a 15-6 run, as Chinese Taipei's snipers failed to bail them out.

However, Chinese Taipei made a stand in the last four minutes as they began to take the ball to the rack, taking advantage of foul trouble to equalize, 68-68, with less than a minute to play. Daoud Musa Daoud replied to help Qatar lead by two, and his team forced another miss to keep possession. Former NBA player Jarvis Hayes was then fouled on a midrange jumper with 12 ticks left, forging a split at the line.

Tseng Wun-Ting attempted to equalize for Chinese Taipei and force overtime, but his triple bounced off the rim, falling into Qatar's hands as time expired.

Yaseen Musa put up 20 points and 19 rebounds. Jarvis Hayes added 13 points, while Daoud tallied 10 points, six rebounds and four assists.

Chinese Taipei raced to an early 11-6 lead behind Quincy Davis' eight points in the paint, but a triple by Erfan Saeed got Qatar back on track with four and a half minutes left. Qatar proceeded to attack the basket, to knot the score at 15-15 following the first period.

The second quarter was a contrast in styles as Saeed and company barreled inside for buckets for Qatar, while triples from Lu Cheng-Ju and Douglas Creighton kept Chinese Taipei afloat. Qatar took a 25-23 lead on an Ali Turki Ali triple, with under four minutes to play and began to grow it, until Yang Chin-Min scored Chinese Taipei's last five points to trail by just a point at the break, 29-28.

Qatar shot 10-of-37 (27 percent) at halftime, while Taipei made 10-of-25 (40 percent).

Chinese Taipei recovered after the break, finding ways to finding ways to finish inside against the tall Qatar frontline. Davis then returned to form, scoring seven points in an 11-5 run to take a 39-34 lead.

However, Qatar didn't fall too far behind, as a Jarvis Hayes jumper gave them their second field goal of the period with under five minutes to play. Yaseen Musa and Daoud Musa Daoud then scored 11 of their last 13 points, the pair capitalizing on late defensive breakdowns to lead 49-45, until Tien Lei converted one from downtown at the buzzer, to make it just a one-point Qatar lead anew, 49-48.

Qatar pressed on in the fourth period, as Musa and Daoud collaborated in the paint. A pair of turnovers, and an offensive foul by Lin Chih-Cheih proved costly for Chinese Taipei, as they fell behind, 64-54, on a Musa put-back.

Chinese Taipei dug in with a 10-4 stand, as a Li Hsueh-Lin trey helped bring the lead down to single digits, trailing 68-66 on Davis charities with a minute and a half to play. Tien Lei equalized moments later against a thinning Qatar front court, 68-68, with under a minute left, setting up the game's final moments.

"We got killed in offensive rebounds," rued Chinese Taipei head coach Hsu Chin-Che. He also revealed that Lin Chih-Cheih injured his ankle during their previous game. His star guard attempted no field goals and finished with no points in 25 minutes.

When the dust settled, Qatar had shot 27-of-72 (38 percent), while Chinese Taipei was 25-of-59 from the field (42 percent), though they were just 5-of-22 (23 percent) on three-pointers.

Qatar meanwhile led 19-8 on the offensive glass, and 48-32 on the boards overall. That allowed them to make a killing on second-chance points, 19-6.

Quincy Davis led Chinese Taipei with 23 points and eight rebounds. Chen Shih-Cheih added 13 markers. - AMD/OMG, GMA News


The scores:

Qatar 71 - Musa 20, Hayes 13, Daoud 10, Saeed 8, Ali 7, M. Mohamed 7, Abdi 4, Elhadary 2, Mohammed Saleem Abdullah 0, B. Mohammed 0

Taipei 68 - Davis III 23, Chen 13, Yang 7, Tien 6, Lu 6, Lee 5, Creighton 5, Tseng 3, Chen 3, Lin 0, Chou 0, Tsai 0

Quarter scoring: 15-15, 29-28, 49-48, 71-68