FIBA Asia - Electric Qatar making sweet sounds to open Second Round

MANILA (FIBA Asia Championship/FIBA Basketball World Cup) - Qatar on Monday continued their unexpected march towards the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup with a strong 75-61 win over Jordan to open the Second Round of the FIBA Asia Championship.

The Jordanians challenged strongly in the first half behind the hot hand of Wesam Al-Sous (14 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists), but Qatar's impressive ball movement under new coach Tom Wisman gradually cut their rivals apart.

The dynamic duo of Jarvis Hayes (15 points) and Daoud Mosa Daoud (13 points, 5 assists) received strong support from Yasseen Musa (14 points 7 rebounds) and Erfan Ali Saeed (11 points, 7 rebounds) as they outscored Jordan 33-23 after half-time to record a 75-61 win.

While Qatar remain undefeated, the loss leaves Jordan in a precarious position, and a Yi Jianlian-less China nearly joined them before they narrowly escaped a desperate Kazakhstan 73-67 in the game of the day.

Thanks to their swarming team defense, the Kazaks reeled in a 10-point deficit to steal the lead with three minutes remaining.

But just when it seemed the lightning quick Jerri Jonson (13 points, 6 assists) would lead his team home, the cool Zhou Peng (17 points, 8 rebounds) made the big plays to keep China on their unsteady path towards Spain.

The Philippines didn't have it all their own way either, being forced to scrap for the first 20 minutes before a pair of Jeff Chan long bombs to start the second half spurred his team to a resounding  victory over Japan.

Chan finished with 16 points on 4-of-5 perimeter shooting to form a deadly inside-out punch with centre Marcus Douthit (19 points, 10 boards), while Japan big men JR Sakuragi (19 points, 13 rebounds) and Kosuke Takeuchi (17 points, 9 rebounds) also performed strongly.

After a tight start, Chinese Taipei made light work of Hong Kong in the second half, cruising to a 94-55 win with Chen Shih-Chieh (13 points, 4 assists) leading five players in double figures.

In other games, Iran defeated India 102-58, Korea dispatched Bahrain 96-51, while in the Classification Round Thailand recorded their first win with a 71-56 triumph over Malaysia.

For full and in-depth coverage of the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship, go to the official website http://manila2013.fibaasia.net.

FIBA