|
KAZ / JPN – Kazakhstan power past Japan
Kazakh coach Vadim Buryakov’s experiment with his bench, when they lost to China in the inconsequential Quarterfinal round game, returned rich dividends tonight as it was the bench that came to the Middle Asian combination’s rescue.
Anton Arsenyev looked out of touch and Alexander Tyutyunik was far from his impressive self, but Kazakhstan found their hero on Omirzak Akhmet, who came off the bench for a game-high 31 points.
“I’m thrilled,” said Kazakh coach Vadim Buryakov.
“Beating a speedy combination like Japan by such a margin calls for a hard work for the boys,” he added.
“We have another chance,” Japan coach Yuji Yoshida said talking about the World Championship berth.
“The boys have been playing on and off. Hope we click tomorrow,” he said.
Scores
Kazakhstan 103 (Omirzak Akhmet 31, Artyom Skornyakov 17, Alexander Ttyutyunik 15) bt Japan 78 (Makoto Hiejima 22, Yuya Nagayoshi 21). Quarterwise Scores: 23-21, 44-38, 67-64.
S Mageshwaran
FIBA Asia
|
