The 2013 FIBA Asia Championship transitioned into Quarterfinal play on Friday, and while Iran extended its undefeated streak in the tournament, Chinese Taipei mounted a second-half comeback to pull off an upset win over China to advance to the Semifinal round. The Philippines and Korea also emerged with wins to complete the semifinal quartet set to meet on Saturday. Here’s a brief recap of each game.
2013 FIBA Asia results: Chinese Taipei upsets China to advance to semifinals
Quarterfinal action at the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship unfolded on Friday, and Iran joined Chinese Taipei among the teams that advanced to the semifinal round. Here’s a recap of the action.
Gary A. Vasquez-US PRESSWIRE
Chinese Taipei 96, China 78
Quincy Davis out-dueled Yi Jianlian in the quarterfinal matchup between Chinese Taipei and China, and Chinese Taipei advanced to the semifinals with an impressive upset win. Davis, who is originally from California, posted a game-high 26 points on an incredible 12-13 shooting, and tied Jianlian -- who scored 22 points on 11-18 shooting -- with a game-high 10 rebounds.
China jumped out to a 10-point lead after two periods, but Chinese Taipei stormed back to erase the deficit with a 31-12 run in the third quarter, and then finished the job by besting China in the final period to add to its lead. Tsai Wen-Cheng played a big part in the late surge, as he scored 15 of his 21 points in the second half. Taipei’s 60-percent shooting from the field propped up the offense, while China struggled to get back into the game as they went cold from beyond the arc (7-24, 29.2 percent). A matchup against undefeated Iran awaits Chinese Taipei in the semifinals on Saturday.
Iran 94, Jordan 50
Iran continued its dominant run through the tournament with an impressive 94-50 win over Jordan on Friday. Iran jumped out to a commanding 31-11 lead in the first period, and Jordan never recovered. Hamed Haddadi -- who played for the Memphis Grizzlies and Phoenix Suns in the NBA last year -- led Iran with 20 points on 7-13 shooting and added eight rebounds in the victory, while Jimmy Baxter struggled for Jordan and only scored 13 points on 4-14 shooting. The Iranian defense held Jordan to 28.3 percent shooting and forced 18 turnovers, while the offense nailed 10-22 three-point shots and pulled down 14 rebounds. Here’s a look at how Iran preserved its perfect record in the tournament:
Philippines 88, Kazakhstan 58
The host team is headed to the Semifinals. The Philippines earned a No. 1 seed in Group E earlier in the tournament, and then justified their placement with a dominant 88-55 win on Friday. Doomed by a poor shooting performance -- no player on the roster hit better than 50 percent of his shots -- Kazakhstan only converted 21-69 of its total attempts (30.4 percent).
The Philippines did an excellent job of limiting turnovers (9) while creating good looks on offense (23 assists), which led to 47.7 percent shooting (31-65), headlined by 22 points on 7-11 shooting from Gary David. They will take on Korea in the semifinals.
Korea 79, Qatar 52
Korea built a comfortable 10-point lead in the first quarter of play, then added to the margin with consistent play in the final three periods to secure a 27-point win and a berth in the semifinals. Sungmin Cho (16 points), Seung Jun Lee (12) and Ho-Young Yoon (10) all scored in double figures for Korea, as the team racked up 19 assists and 20 points off turnovers in the win. Qatar shot 29.1 percent from the field (16-55 FGs) and turned the ball over 16 times.
Classification Games
There were also two classification games played on Friday that are part of the consolation bracket. Hong Kong defeated Bahrain, 87-79, behind a game-high 29 points on 9-14 shooting from Husain Altawash, and Japan earned a 73-64 win over India despite 2-16 shooting from three-point range.
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