Chinese provide the fireworks on Day 2 with comeback win over Korea

CHANGSHA-HUNAN (2015 FIBA Asia Championship) - Hosts China pulled off a comeback for the ages on Thursday and beat Korea on Day 2 of the FIBA Asia Championship.

Trailing by 20 points, Gong Luming's side got off the canvas and took the lead in the final minute before recording a 76-73 win.

Zhou Qi, who had a sensational game, dunked with 56 seconds remaining to put China in front for good, although the Far East giants needed a fearless drive into the lane and lay-up from Guo Ailun with eight seconds remaining for a 74-71 lead.

After each team made two free-throws, Korea had the ball for one last attempt to tie the contest. They heaved the ball up the floor to Cho Sungmin and he was able to launch a three-point attempt from the left wing without being fouled but his shot was off target.

Zhou Qi provided energy on both ends of the floor and scored the majority of his team-high 21 points in the fourth quarter as China improved to 2-0 in Group C and Korea slumped to 1-1.

"Everybody knows his talent and potential," China coach Gong Luming said.

"It has been that way for a long time now. Today he showed he can handle pressure also.

"In fact, the biggest take away for us from this game is our ability to handle pressure."

The other Group C game saw Jordan rebound from their opening day setback to Korea with a 98-68 drubbing of Singapore.

Alex Legion had 19 points for Jordan, who took control of the game by outscoring their opponents, 34-13 in the first quarter.

In Group D, Qatar edged a double-overtime thriller against Lebanon, winning 105-100.

Ali Saad forced the first overtime when he made three free-throws after being fouled while attempting a shot from the arc just seven seconds from the end.

Then at the end of the first overtime, Trey Johnson drilled a three-pointer to close the gap to 85-84 and following a one-of-two effort at the line by Lebanon, he hit a mid-range jumper at the buzzer to knot the contest at 86-86 and force a second overtime.

Saad then came to the fore again, hitting back-to-back three-pointers for a 96-90 Qatar lead and they held on for a famous victory.

Johnson finished with 31 points and Saad had 20.

Qatar had beaten Kazakhstan on opening day in overtime.

Kazakhstan rebounded from that 79-75 defeat on Day 1 by beating Chinese Taipei, 84-73.

Kazakhstan raced into a 25-7 lead in the opening quarter but Chinese Taipei trimmed the deficit to 12 points by half-time.

Chinese Taipei stayed within striking distance and closed the gap to 78-71 with a minute to go but coach Vitaliy Strebkov’s Kazakhstan held on.

For the winning side, Anatoliy Kolesnikov scored 17 points and hauled down seven rebounds while Jerry Johnson and Dmitriy Klimov added 14 and 12 points, respectively.

In Group B, Sani Sakakini and Jamal Abu Shamala wreaked havoc for the second day in a row as Palestine blew out Kuwait, 90-69.

The duo combined for 46 points, 14 rebounds and four steals, and Abu Shamala showed off his perimeter shooting skills once again by making all four of his attempts from long range after opening the tournament on Wednesday with a six-of-10 display in Palestine's 75-73 upset of the Philippines.

The Palestinians, on top of Kuwait 49-35 at half-time, put the game out of reach by scoring 20 of the first 22 points in the third quarter.

The Philippines bounced back on Thursday against Hong Kong, winning 101-50.

Gilas got great games from Jayson Castro, Andray Blatche, Terrence Romeo, and Dondon Hontiveros, and led from start to finish as Hong Kong slumped to 1-1.

In Group A, India stuck with Iran for one whole half before the defending champions broke the game open and prevailed, 88-66.

Mohammad Hassanzadeh’s 18 points led the Iranians, whose Mahdi Kamrani and Samad Nikkhah Bahrami contributed 13 and 12 points, respectively.

Japan started strong and never let up in their demolition job of lowly Malaysia, 119-48.

The Japanese scored 32 points in the first quarter and limited their foes to just nine to set the tone for the entire game.

Keijuro Matsui had 25 points to lead the way for Japan.

FIBA