SOUTH Korea and Lebanon earned the last two tickets to the quarterfinals of the 31st FIBA Asia Cup after disposing of separate opponents at the end of the qualification phase on Wednesday morning (Manila time).
The Sokors cruised past a Guam side which played without two major players, 99-66, while the Cedars advanced without star guard Wael Arakji after dispatching Japan, 97-73, at the King Abdullah Sports City.
Waiting for South Korea in the knockout quarterfinals is long-time Asian rival and Group C topnotcher China, while Lebanon set up a Final Eight showdown against Group D top seed New Zealand.
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Both teams will take a rest day on Wednesday when the quarterfinals officially kicks off.
Two-time defending champion Australia battles Gilas Pilipinas in an interesting matchup in the first of the two knockout games in the upper bracket of the standings.
The game between the Filipinos and Boomers is set at 7 p.m. (Manila time).
Then Chinese Taipei plays Iran on Thursday midnight in the second game of a doubleheader.
Jeonghyeon Moon had 18 points for South Korea which outscored Guam in the second period, 33-10, to turn around the game and finally took control by halftime, 50-28.
Guam played minus Jericho Cruz and Tai Wesley and went to Alexander Kamai for the necessary offensive plays to finish with 19 points.
Lebanon meanwhile, no longer played Arakji despite being part of the official 12-man lineup as newly-naturalized Dedric Lawson, Karim Zeinoun, and good old hand Amir Saoud took care of the Cedars’ offensive firepower.
Lawson double-double
Lawson had a double-double of 24 points and 10 rebounds, while Zeinoun and Saoud added 19 and 12 respectively.
The Cedars, who took the initiative early on, also got 14 from Youssef Khayat, 12 from Sergio El Darwich, and a game-high 15 assists from veteran Ali Mansour.
Winner of the Australia-Philippines showdown will face the survivor between Chinese Taipei and Iran.
Meanwhile, it’s the winner of the South Korea-China encounter that will meet whoever is victorious between Lebanon and New Zealand.
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