Gilas shoots for No. 1 spot after Qatar escapes Chinese Taipei

MANILA, Philippines – Gilas Pilipinas has a chance to end up at first place in its group and avoid the big guns in the quarterfinals after Qatar survived Chinese Taipei, 71-68, to finish as the current leader of their group in the 27th FIBA Asia Championship at the Mall of Asia Arena Wednesday.

The Qataris doused a 12-0 run by their Taiwanese counterparts in the payoff period to preserve the win. Yasseen Musa pumped in 20 points and hauled down 19 rebounds in a throwback performance for the 38-year-old veteran.

Naturalized player Jarvis Hayes contributed 13 points for Qatar, who finished with a 4-1 win-loss card in Group E.

With the win, Qatar forced a three-way tie at the top of the Group E standings with Gilas Pilipinas, which will likely land them a quarterfinal match-up with Korea of Group F. The host nation, for its part, must take care of business by beating Hong Kong tonight to earn to top seed.

Taipei, meanwhile, will be relegated to the second spot and face a dangerous China squad who will likely get back premier big man Yi Jianlian in time for the knockout stages.