China's Yi Jianlian makes a shot during the team's 2011 FIBA Asia Men's Basketball Championshipagainst Japan in Wuhan, Central China's Hubei province, Sept 21, 2011.
WUHAN, China - Hosts China overcame Japan 84-58 to stay unbeaten at 2011 FIBA Asia Men'sBasketball Championship on Wednesday and will play against Lebanon in Friday's quarterfinals.
Defending Champions Iran also raised its unbeaten record to 6-0 after beating South Korea79-62. They will meet Jordan in the quarterfinals.
Yi Li led China with 19 points and five rebounds, while Yi Jianlian had a double-double of 18points and 13 rebounds. Zhu Fangyu took all his eight points in the first quarter but contributedfive assists. Liu Wei had 14 points and five assists. Wang Zhizhi earned 13 points and threesteals.
Zhu Fangyu and Wang Zhizhi combined 14 points inthe first quarter. Kawamura Takuya led Japan witheight points but Zhang Bo's buzzer-beater three-pointer closed the first quarter as China led21-16.Kawamura Takuya continued his brilliant performance in thesecond quarter as he scored 11 points. Yi Li stood out andanswered with 11 points. Yi Jianlian took 11 points before thehalf time and China enlarged the lead to 14 points by half.
Kawamura Takuya had a match-high 24 points, only five ofwhich came from the second half. Matsui Keijuro becameJapan's main attack force in the third quarter as he took all hisseven points in that. But China had a 8-0 run in the beginningof that quarter and Wang Zhizhi took seven points in straight toclose the third quarter.
Liu Wei's 11 points in the fourth quarter just enlarged China'slead to 21 points. The defeat put Japan in third place in thegroup and will play against South Korea in the quarterfinals.
"Defensively, we are quick," said China coach Robert MichaelDonewald. "Kawamura Takuya is incredible but we used ourguys to wear him down."
Donewald admitted that the real championship started aftertoday's match.
"We are ready (for the qualifications). A lot of other teams areready, too" said Donewald. "It's simple that the team which wins three games in-a-row will go toLondon. I think we are near to the best."
The other quarterfinal will be played between Chinese Taipei and the Philippines. ChineseTaipei trounced Malaysia 109-62 and the Philippines beat Syria 75-52. Chang Tsung-Hsiencame up with 25 points to help Chinese Taipei occupy the third spot in the group.
Sports-China
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