Batang Gilas out, China, Korea advance to FIBA Asia U18 semis

MANILA, Philippines – Batang Gilas went down Tuesday, Augsut 26, losing to the Taiwanese in the knockout quarterfinals of the 2014 FIBA Asia U18 Championships. The Philippines joins Japan, Kazakhstan, and Malaysia in the consolation round, while China, Korea, and Iran join Taiwan in the semifinals.

QATAR over KUWAIT, 84-75
Box scores
Qatar rebounded from missing the quarterfinals by beating fellow Gulf nation Kuwait.

Abdulrahman Saad flashes his great scoring form anew, dropping 36 points on 55% FG shooting to lead the hosts, while Abdelrahman Abdelhaleem added 19 points and 14 rebounds. Ahmed Al-Yousif and Mohamed Abed each tallied 10 markers to underscore Qatar’s dominance in this game.

The Qataris led by as many as 42 points in the third quarter.

Kuwait, meanwhile, was paced by Abdullah Faraj’s 31 points. Star guard Hamad Hasan didn’t see action in this game for the Kuwaitis.

JORDAN over HONG KONG, 97-64
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Jordan had a fast start and never looked back in dismantling Hong Kong. The West Asians dominated the interior, outrebounding their East Asian rivals, 101-33 (still unsure of this staggering figure), and outscoring them, 68-22. Khaled Abuaboud was most impressive with 16 points and 20 rebounds.

Jordan saw five other guys registering double-doubles in scoring and rebounding.

Ka Chung On, meanwhile, was the best player for the Hong Kongers with 22 markers on the strength of five triples.

KOREA over JAPAN, 90-61
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The Japanese led after the first quarter and trailed by just two at the half, but the Koreans turned up the jets and left Team Hayabusa in the dust in the second half.

Coach Kim Seung-Hwan’s wards shot poorly from long ranger here, making just 3 of 14 three-pointers, but they made up for it by going down low, outscoring the Japanese frontline, 56-30, in the paint.

Korea outscored Japan, 32-7, in the third canto to open up a tight contest and led by as many as 33 in the fourth period. Kim Kyung-Won led the victors with 18 points, 15 rebounds, and 2 blocks, while Jang Tae-Bin tallied 15 markers and 7 assists in the backcourt.

Three Japanese players finished in double-digits here, led by the 12 points of Yuki Mikami.

CHINA over KAZAKHSTAN, 106-53
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The Kazakhs hung tough for one whole quarter before getting blasted the rest of the way as the Chinese moved on to notch their seventh win in as many games.

Six Chinese finished in double-figure scoring, led by the 19 points of Shao Yinglun, while Zhao Rui and Zhou Qi each scored 16 markers.

Only one Kazakh scored more than 9 points – Alexandr Danilchenko, who got 12. The Chinese next face the Taiwanese in the semis.

TAIWAN over PHILIPPINES, 90-86
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Speaking of the Taiwanese, they hit the biggest shots of the game in the final minutes to secure this huge win and eliminate Batang Gilas from top three contention.

Lin Ming-Yi hit the go-ahead three with about a minute to go to break an 86-all deadlock and give the Taiwanese the needed breathing room to advance to the Final Four against cross-straits rival China.

Lin hit four threes in the game, which is also the same total for Tu Su-Han and Lee Kuan-Yi. In all Taiwan hit 37% of its threes, while Gilas connected on just 18% from rainbow country. Tu led the winners with 23 points, while Lee and Lin had 17 and 16 markers respectively.

Mark Dyke was mightily impressive for the Philippines with a dominant 26-point, 13-rebound double-double, but his efforts went down in vain. US-based Kobe Paras also recorded a double-double with 15 points, 11 rebounds, and 3 blocked shots.

IRAN over MALAYSIA, 92-36
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Iran started the game 14-0 and had no trouble at all in blowing out the Malaysians for their sixth win in six games. The West Asians, therefore, secured the last semifinal berth and set a critical duel with the Koreans in their next encounter.

Mehyar Mehr flirted with a triple-double in this game, scoring 6 points, handing out 9 assists, and getting 8 steals as Iran just ran roughshod all over their SEABA foes.

Abdolsamad Soroodi and Ali Allahverdi each had 13 points to lead Team Melli in scoring.

Yee Tong Heng was the lone bright spot for Malaysia with 10 points.  – Rappler.com