BEIRUT (FIBA Asia Cup 2017) - The Philippines may have practically sealed their Quarter-Final berth, but that does not mean they won't go all out to defeat Qatar and go for the Group B sweep today.

Gilas Pilipinas came into this tournament in less-than-ideal fashion. They had barely any time to practice as a complete unit, they were missing naturalized player Andray Blatche and the country's top center, June Mar Fajardo, was hobbled by a calf injury. The caching staff told the fans to manage their expectations, but, lo and behold, the Filipinos have defied perhaps even their own expectations to book an outright seat in the Quarter-Finals. Win or lose against Qatar in this game, the Philippines are in the Top 8, but that does not mean coach Chot Reyes and his wards will take the foot off the gas pedal or take this matchup lightly.

Key Matchup: This should be entertaining. Two of the most confident and flamboyant scorers in the tournament - if not the entire continent - will square off in this game. We are talking about Terrence Romeo of the Philippines and Abdulrahman Saad of Qatar. Both were stars in the 3x3 platform and have transitioned well onto the FIBA Asia Cup 2017 stage. Both have great handles and shooting, and both have not met a shot from which they will shy away. Romeo is the third-best scorer so far with 21.5 points per game, and Saad is right behind him with 21.0 per contest. It will be a bona fide shootout.

Key Stat: For Qatar to have a chance to win this game and snap the Philippines' winning streak, they will have to stop Gilas Pilipinas's outside shooting and transition play. The Filipinos currently lead the entire tournament in three-pointers made and in three-point percentage. Gilas had a slow start against Iraq on Day 4, but all it took was one big run in the third quarter to break the game open and put the result beyond doubt. Qatar cannot afford for that to happen. They need to slow down this game and force the Filipinos to go to their big men more than their guards. This means guys like Mohd Yousuf Mohammed, Erfan Ali Saeed and Yehia Abdelhaleem will need to step up and stop the Philippine frontline of Christian Standhardinger, Japeth Aguilar and Raymond Almazan.

FIBA