Japan cruises past Taiwan in FIBA Asia Cup

JBL standouts J.R. Sakuragi and Kosuke Takeuchi scored 19 and 15 points, respectively, in a 90-78 victory over Taiwan on Saturday in the FIBA Asia Cup in Tokyo.

Japan improved to 2-0 in the tournament, which began on Friday.

Guard Takatoshi Furukawa added 16 points and guard Kosuke Kanamaru had a 10-point outing.

Tien Lei paced Taiwan with 19 points, ex-Osaka Evessa center Tseng Wen-ting had 15 points with six rebounds, three assists and two steals and Lee Hsueh-lin scored 10 points in the team's first game of the continental competition.

Taiwan shot 14-for-25 at the free-throw line, while Japan was 12-for-14.

Sakuragi and Hinori Watanabe each had five assists for coach Kimikazu Suzuki's team.

Also Saturday, Qatar defeated India 84-63, the Philippines topped Lebanon 78-68 and Uzbekistan routed Macau 81-61.

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