Taipei barely survives Japan; Iran, China, Jordan blast rivals

MANILA, Philippines – Chinese Taipei barely survived Japan, 79-76, Tuesday to remain unbeaten in the 2013 Manila FIBA Asia Men’s Basketball Championship at the Mall of Asia Arena.

The Taiwanese banked on veterans Chih-Chieh Lin and Wen-Ting Tseng down the stretch to escape with the win that gave them the solo top spot in Group E with 4-0 record.

Qatar, the other unbeaten team in the group, will stake its 3-0 card against host Gilas Pilipinas later in the evening.

In the other games, China streaked to its second straight win blasting India, 79-45, while Iran also kept its immaculate record and the top spot in Group F by breezing past through Bahrain, 75-56.

Meanwhile, Jordan notched its first win in the second round routing Hong Kong, 80-54, to keep its quarterfinal hopes alive.

With the game still hanging in the balance, Tseng reprised his role in Taipei’s big win over Philippines last Saturday.  The pony-tailed big man hit a huge triple that gave the Taiwanese a 74-69 buffer heading into the final three minutes of the hardly-fought match that saw seven lead changes and deadlocks.  

Japan managed to get within one, 74-73, but Lin responded with a three-point play in the last 44.9 seconds to preserve the win.

“Japan had good defense and we committed turnovers,” Taipei coach Chin-Che Hsu told reporters after the game. “But I told the players to be more confident.”

Japan, which lost by 19 against Taipei’s earlier victim Gilas Pilipinas, led by as many as nine points in this game only to falter in the crucial stretch.

The Taiwanese will go for a sweep and the top spot in Group E on Wednesday against Qatar.

Taipei and Iran looks cinch to claim the top spot in their respective groups and will meet the fourth-ranked teams in the other group at the start of the knockout stages on Friday. The no.2 team will meet the no.3 team in the other group in the cross-over knockout quarterfinals.