Qatar trips Japan in come-from-behind thriller

MANILA, Philippines – Qatar gutted out a come from behind 75-74 victory at the expense of Japan in the preliminary round of the 2013 Manila FIBA Asia Men's Basketball Championship at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

Naturalized player Jarvis Hayes paced Qatar with 20 markers while Yasseen Musa punched in a double-double effort with 12 points and 15 boards in the opening festivities of the FIBA Asia Qualifiers.

“It was a nice win for us the key was the experience of our guys. When you shoot 36 percent and still we win the game, we feel very fortunate,” said Qatar Coach, Tom Wisman, who was also the former coach of Japan.

“Defensively we need to improve because their shooter (Kosuke) Kanamaru scored a lot of points but as a team we got the job done in the end,” he added.

Qatar faced a 55-63 deficit at the onset of the payoff period but started strong with a 10-0 run capped by a Hayes jumper to give them a 65-63 lead at the 5:21 mark.

Japan rose to the challenge with lead gunner Kosuke Kanamaru countering with a huge triple, the game went into a see-saw affair after Erfan Saeed drained another triple to snatch the lead back, 68-66, with 4:09 remaining.

The NBA veteran Hayes stepped up and had an answer for every run from Japan. He scored 11 fourth quarter points, including the dagger baseline jumper, to extend their lead 74-70 with 1:03 left.

“Jarvis is one of the top players of the tournament he is a great player. He made some big shots in the fourth quarter and he was a huge help for  in this game, hopefully he plays like that every game,” said Musa.

Kosuke Takeuchi costly split his charity free throws with less than a minute remaining and Qatar wisely used the clock to preserve the win.

“This game will take us to the second round so we are very happy. Japan is a very strong team they have been one of the Asia’s best for years,” said 38 year-old Musa.

Kanamaru erupted for a game-high 27 points including four triples while JR Sakuragi added 13 points for Japan.