Five teams improve to 2-0 as hosts Indonesia keep hopes alive

JAKARTA (2015 FIBA ASIA U16 CHAMPIONSHIP) - Tournament hosts Indonesia boosted their chances of qualifying for the Second Round of the competition by beating debutants Bangladesh on Day 2, while five other teams improved to 2-0.

Three-times reigning champions China, 2013 runners-up Philippines, Japan, Korea along with Chinese Taipei all won their second game in as many days.

But only four of them will have the opportunity to extend their winning streaks come Day 3 with China and Korea matching wits with each other to decide the top team in Group D.

Group A: Two in a row for Japan
The Japanese, who came in third two years ago, made it two out of two following their 77-39 victory over Malaysia in their Group A encounter on Friday.

Japan had control of the game throughout. A 24-0 run across the first and second quarters gave them a commanding 39-12 lead at the end of the first half and they played for time after that.

Yudai Nishida had a game-high 23 points in the winning effort, 20 of them coming in the second half.

For the losing team, only Maegen Suresh Mahadevan scored in double-digits with 16 points.

In the group's other game, Hong Kong bounced back from their opening day defeat to beat Kuwait 71-59 for and get into the win column.

After losing their first two games, the Kuwaitis must beat Malaysia on Saturday to keep alive their hopes of advancing. Hong Kong and Malaysia are both 1-1.

Group B: Taipei keep winning, hosts' triumph
Indonesia carried far too many guns for Bangladesh building up a 26-4 lead at the end of the first period on their way to a resounding 90-29 win.

There was very little interest more than academic left in the game after that.

Muhamad Hardan Noor's 14 points led the hosts' victory.

Chinese Taipei didn't break much of a sweat in their 94-86 win over Lebanon.

Taipei closed the first quarter with 11 unanswered points and cruised along.

Ting-Chien Lin scored 14 of his team's 34 points in the first quarter and went on to finish with a team-high 27 points. Wei-Chieh Tang returned a double-double with 18 points and 16 rebounds.

Salim Alaameddine had a game-high 30 points in the losing effort but shot just 5 of 16 from the field.

Taipei, winners of both their games to date, have a very good chance of carrying two wins moving into the Second Round. They have a game against hosts Indonesia.

Lebanon, who beat the home side on the opening day, dropped to 1-1 and have a game against Bangladesh on Saturday.

Group C: Back-to-back success for Philippines
The Philippines started the game rather cautiously and even trailed at one point (27-20) in the second quarter, but a 10-0 run allowed them to go into half-time leading 30-27.

Batang Gilas returned from the locker-room a different side and unleashed a 28-9 in the third period for their 70-51 victory.

Kris Pagsanjan and Samjosef Belamgel had 10 points apiece for Michael Oliver's team, while Allen Gozum just missed a double-double with 9 points and 10 rebounds.

For Thailand, Thanakrit Limjittakorn had game high 11 points.

Group D: China, Korea set up mouth-watering duel
China waited until after the break to make their move and used a strong second half performance to register a 67-56 win against Iraq.

Rongzhen Zhu, who finished with team-highs of 23 points and 16 rebounds, scored 14 of China's 25 third quarter points to lead the defending champions.

Abdullah Abdullah led all scorers with 24 points and also added 7 rebounds for Iraq.

The other game saw 2009 and 2011 runners-up Korea breeze their way past India 104-85.

China and Korea head into a mouth-watering clash on Saturday to decide who among the two will carry the additional win into the Second Round.

India and Iraq, both having lost their first two games will face off with only the winners going through to the Second Round.

FIBA