2013 FIBA Asia Championship: Qatar claims top spot in Group B with win over Hong Kong

Jarvis Hayes led all scorers with 25 points, counting 18 points in the first frame alone, and 5-of-6 from beyond the arc. Mousa Daoud added 17 points on 4-of-6 from long distance.

 

Three-point shooting was key for Qatar, shooting the lights out with 15-of-40 (38 percent) three-pointers, while Hong Kong made only 9-of-28 (32 percent).

 

“We look to learn from him and we hope he can guide us from all his experience in the NBA,” said Abdulrahman Saad about Hayes' play today.

 

“The most important thing is we came for the win. We're looking to build from yesterday's win and trying to prepare for the second round. It's about us and what we do. We gotta play to the best to our ability,” he said.

 

“We didn't play the way we wanted to play today. We give credit to Hong Kong for packing it inside so we took the outside shots, but we looked to get inside. I felt we should've scored more inside, so we have to get that done,” said Qatar head coach Thomas Robert.

 

Robert said that his team still needed to improve defensively, especially during the second quarter when Hong Kong was clicking from outside.

“I'm disappointed with our defensive effort today. We're not the quicketst team in this tournament. Defensively, we've got to get our help and rotations together against quick, shooting teams,” he said.

Both teams, however, will advance with Japan to Group E because of Lebanon's disqualification from the tournament. Joining them will be Gilas Pilipinas, Chinese Taipei, and the winner of the Saudi Arabia-Jordan matchup, playing a single round-robin where the top four teams advance to the quarterfinals.

 

Jarvis Hayes was active early for Qatar, hitting two treys to score 10 of their first 15 points. Meanwhile, Hong Kong struggled early against the defense, but Duncan Reid and Wong Chun Wai found some at the rim, taking turns scoring to trail, 15-10.

 

Hong Kong fell away after a Qatar timeout halfway through the quarter. Qatar packed the paint, while pouring an 17-4 run on the other end, punctuated by two more Hayes three-pointers, to claim a 32-14 margin after the first period.

 

Qatar sat on their lead for most of the second quarter, unbothered by their sloppy offense because of Hong Kong's inability to convert. But in the latter minutes, Hong Kong showed signs of life as Chan Siu Wing connected four times from long range, helping his team wrestle the lead down to 14 points at the half, 44-30.

 

Chan Siu Wing posted 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting, all from beyond the arc, in the second period for Hong Kong. Hong Kong shot 13-of-37 (35 percent) against Qatar's 15-of-36 (42 percent). Qatar was 10-0 in turnover points despite leading 6-5 in turnovers.

 

Hong Kong looked to make a run when play resumed, as Chan Siu Wing and Wong teamed up to trim the deficit to 11 as Qatar's offense continued to slump, but Hayes and Daoud delivered from downtown to keep the lead safe, 54-38, at the halfway mark. Both teams went tit-for-tat until the quarter's end, 64-47.

 

Qatar opened the fourth quarter with Daoud, Turki Ali and Saad Ali making four from beyond the arc, 76-47, formally pushing the margin into 20-point territory.

Chan Siu Wong was the sole Hong Kong player in double digits, coming off the bench for 18 points on 6-of-11 shooting overall. - RAF, GMA News


The scores: