JAPAN booked a ticket to the FIBA Asia Cup next year by beating Guam, 83-78, at the Calvo Fieldhouse on Sunday for a sweep of the second window of the qualifiers.
Akatsuki Japan lost a 16-point lead as the host team tied the game at 71-all before Yudai Nishida and naturalized player Josh Hawkinson came through with clutch plays down the stretch to avert a total collapse.
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Raising their record to 4-0 in Group C, the Akatsuki Japan became the first team to advance in next year’s Fiba Asia Cup tournament proper through the qualifiers.
Host Saudi Arabia is already seeded in the August 5-17 tournament next year.
Australia followed suit later on as Chris Goulding continued to wax hot from the outside in the Boomers’ 98-75 thrashing of South Korea at the Goyang gymnasium in Group A.
Goulding sizzled anew with 10 three-pointers to finish with 31 points as the Boomers kept their record perfect at 4-0.
His scorching shooting came just three days after he broke both the Asia Cup and Continental Cup qualifiers record by hitting nine 3s in Australia’s 101-48 rout of Thailand.
Goulding’s record though, fell two days after as Bahrain’s Ahmed Haji sank 11 treys in a 76-71 win over Syria.
The 29-year-old Hawkinson completed a three-point play to break the 71-deadlock, before Nishida scored six straight points sandwiching a lone Guam basket for an 80-73 lead with 1:33 remaining.
Nishida went 6-of-11 from beyond the arc to finish with 21 points to show the way for Japan.
Guam went down to 1-3 record despite getting 30 points and 10 rebounds from Earnest Ross, which he spiked with six three-pointers.
San Miguel Beer guard Jericho Cruz added 13 points and five rebounds for the home team, which still remains in contention for a berth in next year’s tournament.
In other Group C play, China routed Mongolia, 90-52, at the UG Arena in Ulaanbaatar for a similar sweep of its second window assignments.
A 101-53 winner over Guam at home last Thursday, the Chinese raised their record to 3-1 and remained in second place behind Japan.
Mongolia meanwhile, suffered its fourth straight loss in as many games.
Thailand meanwhile, whipped Indonesia, 112-71, in a battle between two Southeast Asian rivals.
The Thais hiked their record at 2-2 to tie South Korea in second place, even as Indonesia fell to a 0-4 slate.
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