2013 FIBA Asia Championship: Qatar overhauls Japan lead, snatches late win

(Updated 5:36pm) Ex-NBA player Jarvis Hayes scored 12 points in the pivotal fourth quarter, as Qatar snuck up on Japan, 75-74, in the first stage of the FIBA Asia Championships, Thursday, at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Qatar trailed for most of the game until a 12-2 run early in the fourth, including seven by Hayes, awarded them the lead for good. Japan, who shot well for most of the game, wilted against Qatar's strong defensive presence in the final minutes.

Hayes led Qatar with 20 points. Erfan Saeed added 14 points and six rebounds, while Yaseen Musa notched 12 points and 15 rebounds.

Japan went to JR Sakuragi and Kosuke Kanamaru early on, using their height to score around the basket. Japan took an early 12-7 lead on a Kanamaru and-one, but Qatar began to press on the offensive glass, using their physicality to put Japan in the penalty. With Yasseen Musa working inside and Khalid Abdi firing from long-range, Qatar countered Japan's midrange shooters to trail, 25-21, after the first period.

Kanamaru and Sean Ichioka opened the second period with eight unanswered points for Japan, 33-21. However, Qatar shook off another slow start to dominate in the latter part of the second. Although Musa scored their first basket already four minutes in, they began rolling from there.

Erfan Saeed and Jarvis Hayes combined for eight points, bannering a 14-9 charge the rest of the way, as Qatar drew contact inside for easy points at the line. They held Japan to just three field goals in the last six minutes, to trail by only six, 41-35 at halftime.

At the break, Japan shot 55 percent from the field against Qatar's 30 percent clip. However, Qatar's 11-of-14 (79 percent) mark from the charity stripe kept them close as Japan were merely 2-of-4 (50 percent).

Mousa Daoud came out firing for Qatar in the third quarter, draining two treys in a brief firefight to pull his team within two, 47-45. But the rest of the way, Japan smothered them on the defensive end while taking advantage at the line. Japan went on a 14-5 run in the last six minutes, notching 10 points from the line, before a Mansour Elhadary laid in the ball to beat the buzzer, to take a 61-53 lead after three quarters.

Qatar's interior defense held strong to start the fourth, while on the other end Hayes and Daoud nailed two triples during a 12-2 surge to seize their first lead, 65-63, midway through the quarter.

Japan's scoring over the next few minutes came on chance points, as an errant Qatar pass resulted in a Kanamaru trey. But Saeed countered on the next possession from deep, and Hayes cruised to the rim to forge a four-point margin. Kosuke Takeuchi managed a tip-in on the next play, but Mousa one-upped him with a two-handed slam, 72-68, forcing Japan to call their penultimate timeout with under two minutes to play.

Japan made inroads after a Sakuragi put-back and a Takeuchi split, but a jumper by Hayes and a crucial defensive stand by Qatar rewarded them with a 74-71 lead with 10 ticks to go. Japan were forced to use up their team fouls to save the clock, and Hayes split from the line before a Makoto Heijima triple finalized the score.

Qatar finished the game shooting 24-of-66 (34 percent) against Japan's 27-of-64 clip (42 percent). The winners also shot 17-of-21 (81 percent) from the charity stripe, while in comparison Japan were 13-of-17 (76 percent).

Qatar also led 8-0 in turnover points and 14-6 in second-chance points.

Kosuke Kanamaru finished with 27 points on 10-of-13 shooting from the floor. JR Sakuragi added 13 points and eight rebounds, and Kosuke Takeuchi scattered 10 points and 10 rebounds. - AMD, GMA News


The scores:

Qatar 75 - Hayes 20, Saeed 14, Musa 12, Abdi 9, Daoud 9, Elhadary 8, Ali 3, Abdullah 0, Mohammed 0

Japan 74 - Kanamaru 27, Sakuragi 13, Takeuchi 10, Kurihara 7, Hiejima 5, Ichioka 4, Matsui 3, Sakurai 3, Tanaka 2, Ota 0
 
Quarter scoring: 21-25, 35-41,  53-61, 75-74