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China, S. Korea and Japan qualify for men's basketball quarters

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Unbeaten China, South Korea and Japan ensured their qualification for the quarterfinals Friday night when they won their third straight games in the men's basketball preliminary round at the Asian Games.

China coasted to a 96-31 victory over Uzbekistan, co-leading Group E at 3-0 in the win-and-loss record with South Korea, who defeated their neighbor DPR Korea 96-66 later this night.

Wang Shipeng, who totaled 14 points in China's first two games, scored 20 points to lead China in shooting, including three 3-pointers, and Wang Zhizhi had 18. The 2.19-meter-tall Zhang Zhaoxu came off the bench to rebound 11 and add 6 points.

China held only one player of Uzbekistan to score double-digit. Samender Juginisov contributed 13 for his winless squad after three games in Group E.

"I just thought it was a game where we were physically superior," China's coach Robert Donewald said. "We missed on our defense and they scored a third of their points in the first five minutes of the game. I think we played good defense the rest of the way."

China will test its defending expectations on Sunday against South Korea, one of the medal contenders.

Lee Seung Jun scored a game-high 23 points and grabbed seven rebounds to lead South Korea to an easy win over DPR Korea. It took control early and finished halftime 55-35.

Japan, which upset two time Asian Championship gold medalist Iran on Wednesday, beat the Philippines in a very close game 60-58, becoming the only team without defeat in Group F.

The Japanese entered the second half with one point lead, 30-29, and took the advantage 59-58 with four seconds left. The lead changed six times and margin was never more than seven points in the game.

Takumi Ishizaki scored 15 points for Japan and Kosuke Takeuchi added 11. Marcio Lassiter's 13 points led the Philippines (2-1), which outclassed defending runner-up Qatar on Wednesday.

Also in Group F, Daoud Musa Daodu's three free throws in the last seconds helped defending runner-up Qatar avoid a second straight defeat and ensured a 72-70 victory over Chinese Taipei.

Targuy Alba Ngombo had 23 points and 11 rebounds for Qatar (2-1), who rebounded 44 to the opponent's 29. Lu Cheng Yu had 23 points to lead the Chinese Taipei (1-2), who hit 11-for-37 in arc.

Iran, playing without their NBA player Hamed Ehadadi, recovered from Wednesday's defeat to Japan and trounced India 78-63 for their second victory.

Jordan (2-1) also won their second victory when they beat Mongolia (1-2) 79-64.

Men's teams will be one day off Saturday and resume competition on Sunday.