CHENZHOU (FIBA Asia Champions Cup 2016) - Pauian of Chinese Taipei and Al Shorta of Iraq will meet in the battle for fifth place tomorrow at the FIBA Asia Champions Cup 2016 in Chenzhou, China. Both clubs won their classification games today to set up this exciting clash. Pauian beat Barsy Atyrau in the first game, 72-64, while Al Shorta prevailed over Al Rayyan in the second game, 90-63.

Seldom-used Lee Chi-Wei stepped up for Pauian. The young small forward hit 4 triples on his way to 21 points for the Taipei quintet, and he also added 4 assists, 2 steals and 1 rebound. Filipino-Taipei player Eliott Tan also did well, scoring 13 points on 6-of-9 field goal shooting, while Wu Chia-Chun and Quincy Davis each scored 10 points in support.

Barsy Atyrau stuck close to Pauian for the whole game, even taking a 2-point lead in the fourth quarter, but bug shots from Davis, Tan and Lee kept the Taipei squad afloat. National team member Pavel Ilin led the way for Barsy with 27 points on the back of 5 triples, while Pavel Micheev and import Trevin Parks each tallied 11 points.

Pauian’s opponent tomorrow will be Al Shorta of Iraq, which cruised to a 90-63 victory over Qatar’s Al Rayyan. Import Justin Hawkins led the way with 37 points, 14 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 steal, while Nawres Dhafer and DeAndre Rice added 14 and 20 points respectively. Preston Knowles paced Al Rayyan with 24 points, while Hassan Mohamed and Yehia Abdelhaleem paired up for 29 points in the losing cause.

Al Shorta were ahead early and often, putting up a lead that eventually became as big as 27 points. The Iraqis outshot, outrebounded and flat out outworked Al Rayyan in almost all aspects, and they are hoping to continue playing at a high level against Pauian tomorrow.

RESULTS:

Classification 5-8:

Pauian beat Barsy Atyrau, 72-64

Al Shorta beat Al Rayyan, 90-63

FIBA