26th FIBA Asia C’ Ship Day 3 Review: Taiwan down Qatar; Iran tear Uzbekistan apart (Part-2)
Taiwan 94 – Qatar 78
Aiming to draw the first blood in the preliminary round of the 2011 FIBA Asia Championship, Qatar used their five best players for the whole game. However Qatar’s unusual strategy did nothing but extend their losing streak in a
game against Taiwan on Saturday.
The Chinese Taipei constructed an 8-point buffer in the first quarter from where they never trailed and handed Qatar their third straight loss of the tournament in as many days.
Taiwan’s superstar Tsung-Hsien Chang had an outstanding scoring night as he racked up a game-high 35 points in just 25 minutes of playing time, which included six blows from beyond the arc.
Qatar’s big name Omer Abd-el-Kader Salem, who remained on the floor for full 40 minutes, posted a magnificent double-double with 30 points and 12 boards. However, Omer failed to guide his team towards the victory.
Followed by a tremendous team effort, Taiwan dominated the first two quarters, sealing a comprehensive 50-40 advantage. Qatar gained some momentum after halftime and managed to cut down the deficit by two points. However the Taiwanese
added 27 more points in the fourth quarter to quash all hopes of a Qatari comeback.
Iran 132 – Uzbekistan 38
In a Group B matchup on Saturday, Iran handed Uzbekistan one of the most demeaning defeats in history of the tournament. Seven players from Iran landed double figures as the defending champions rattled Uzbekistan 132-38 in a blowout
victory.
The mighty Iranians clinched their third successive win of the 2011 FIBA Asia Championship and secured the top seed in the Group. Uzbekistan, on the other hand, slipped to a 1-2 record after a defeat which will haunt them for some
time to come.
The clash was more of a mismatch as Iran kept the score board ticking effortlessly. Keyed by their starters, Iran smashed Uzbekistan with a 38-point blitz in the first quarter and restricted the opposition to 14 points. The margin
increased substantially for Uzbekistan in the second quarter as Iran procured a huge 79-25 advantage going into the halftime, leaving no hope for the opposition to strike back.
Although the game was effectively sealed in the first two quarters, however, the Iranians never showed any sign of retreat and continued to rip apart Uzbekistan. Iran’s bench players did the remaining damage and added 53 more points
to the total in the last two quarters as Iran raced away towards the victory.
Hamed Haddadi and Arslan Kazemi were the top scorers of the night who landed 18 points apiece for Iran. Aleksandr Kozlov was the only player in Uzbekistan’s line-up, who scored in double-figure.
Tags: