Korea, Lebanon down foes to forge battle for 5th

CHANGSHA – South Korea stamped its class on India, 117-72, while Lebanon outlasted Qatar, 89-86, in a tight, seesawing battle to arrange a duel for fifth place in the 2015 FIBA Asia Championship at the Changsha Social Work College Gymnasium here Friday.

The Koreans, the reigning Asian Games champions eliminated in the Final Eight here by FIBA Asia titleholder Iran Thursday, displayed their sleek game to crush the longtime Central Asian rulers in the penultimate day of this 11-day regional conclave.

With main man Yang Donggeun rested along with Park Chan Hee and Lee Seounghyun, eight Korea players put in double-digit outputs as they overwhelmed the Indian team banking heavily on big forwards Amiyot Singh and Amritpal Singh.

Naturalized player Moon Taeyoung paced the Koreans with 22 points that went with four rebounds, two assists and one steal.

Meanwhile, Bassel Bawji pulled down a crucial offensive rebound and knocked in a short jumper with four ticks to go as the Lebanese beat out the Qataris in a gripping showdown of Arab teams.

Bawji finished with 18 points and seven rebounds while Wael Arakji came through with 21 points for the Lebanese who stayed in a position to make a decent finish in their return in this Asian meet.

The Qataris and the Indians were relegated down to fight for seventh place.

Qatar was sixth while India 11th in the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship in Manila.

Earlier in the day, Jordan thwarted Palestine, 94-82, for ninth place while Kazakhstan topped Hong Kong, 68-62, for 11th place.

Jordan moved two rungs down while Kazakhstan slipped three steps down from the last time.