India’s Senior Men’s Basketball team lost their final classification game to Indonesia on Tuesday evening to finish their campaign at the 26th FIBA Asia Championship in Wuhan, China, at 14th place. In their final game against Indonesia, India trailed most of the way in the competitive game and failed to close the gap between the two sides, as Indonesia won 84-75.

India’s sharp-shooter Hareesh Koroth continued his bright showing at the championship, with 22 points off the bench to lead all scorers in the game. India were close the whole game, and trailed by just seven points at halftime. Indonesia continued to slowly extend their lead, and a decent fourth quarter by the Indian side was a little too late to prevent the loss.

Indonesia were led by Mario Wuysang, who had a great all-round game with 17 points, 8 rebounds, and 7 assists. Amin Prihantono added 16 points for Indonesia.

Final Score:

• Indonesia (Mario Wuysang 17 pts 8 rebs 7 asts, Amin Prihantono 16 pts, Christian Setipu 15 pts 8 rebs, Ponsianus Indrawan 9 rebs, Rony Gunawan 8 rebs bt. India (Hareesh Koroth 22 pts, Jagdeep Singh 11 pts 6 asts) 84-75 (20-14, 24-23, 23-20, 17-18)

The second round of the 26th FIBA Asia Basketball Championship will conclude on Wednesday, and the knock-out stage of the tournament will begin with the Quarter-Finals on Friday. Finals of the tournament are scheduled to be held on Sunday.

India were handed a 20-0 win against Qatar in their 13-16th place Classification game at the at the 26th FIBA Asia Championship in Wuhan, China. The game, scheduled to be played on Monday evening, was forfeited by Qatar.

Final Score:

• India bt. Qatar 20-0 Forfeit

In the other 13-16 Classification game, Indonesia defeated Bahrain 85-62 behind 32 points by Andi Poedjakesuma.

India is now scheduled to play their final game of the tournament against Indonesia on Tuesday afternoon for 13th/14th place classification.

Korea scored the first eight points of the game and only grew in strength thereafter before romping through for a 84-53 win against India on Saturday to complete their Group A engagements with an all-win record at the 26th FIBA Asia Championship in Wuhan, China, on Saturday. It was India's third consecutive loss in the tournament, which saw them finish at the bottom of the group and eliminated from the second round.

“We had to get the guys a better feel of the court preparing for the Second Round. We have a tough road ahead,” Korea coach Hur Jae said.

Kang Byung-hun was the leader of the Korean assault with 22 points, in a 7/14 field shooting.

“It’ll only get tougher from now. We need to watch every step,” he said.

Giant center Ha Seung-jin didn’t take to the court at all and Jae said: “We need him for the bigger games as we move into the play-offs.”

Trideep Rai’s 11 points was the only double digit score for India.

“We have a long way in terms of going anywhere in Asian competitions. But I think we are making a start with this young team,” said India coach Kenny Natt.

Final Score:

• Korea (Kang Byung-hun 22 pts, Taejong Moon 14 pts, Sungmin Cho 12 pts 5 asts, Jongkyu Kim 11 pts 10 rebs, Sekeun Oh 11 rebs) bt. India (Trideep Rai 11 pts, Amjyot Singh 9 rebs, Hareesh Koroth 7 rebs) 84-53 (27-11, 19-17, 20-6, 18-19)

In the other group A game on Saturday, Lebanon defeated Malaysia 87-59. Korea finished at the top of the group, and have proceeded into the second round along with Lebanon and Malaysia from Group A.

India will play in a 13-16 classification game against Qatar on Monday.

Just one night after the underdog Indian basketball side pushed Asian powerhouses Lebanon to the brink, the squad from Malaysia handed India a second consecutive close loss in the Group A class at the 26th FIBA Asia Championship in Wuhan, China, on Friday. An end-game burst from Malaysia saw them emerge as 71-67 winners and virtually clinched their place in the second round.

The game swung back and forth like a pendulum: India fell back once again at halftime in this match-up trailing to their opponents by 16 points at the break. But once again, India showed their third-quarter resolve, outscoring Malaysia 24-12 in the period and bringing the game close again. The fourth quarter see-sawed between both the sides, and with the game tied in the final minutes, lower-ranked Malaysia made a final run to edge out a close win.

Malaysia were led by Ban Sin Ooi, who scored 20 points in the game, although the game's best individual performance came from India's experienced big man Jagdeep Singh Bains, who had a heroic 25 points and 11 rebounds in the loss.

Final Score:

• Malaysia (Ban Sin Ooi 20 pts, Guganeswaran Batumalai 14 pts 7 rebs 6 asts, Li Wei Chee 8 rebs) bt. India (Jagdeep Singh Bains 25 pts 11 rebs, Amjyot Singh 13 pts 12 rebs, Hareesh Koroth 11 pts) 71-67 (15-13, 27-13, 12-24, 17-17)

In the other Group A game, Korea defeated Lebanon 80-62 to top the group. India will play their last group game against Korea on Saturday.

Less than two minutes away from the final buzzer, India held a one-point lead over one of Asia's finest basketball teams, Lebanon, and were on the verge of making history. But a heroic performance by Lebanon's Jean Abd El Nour denied India its chance at history, as Lebanon survived to win 71-68 in the Group A game at the 26th FIBA Asia Championship in Wuhan, China, on Thursday.

El Nour scored eight of his game-high 24 points in the dying minutes of the game to defeat the enthusiastic Indian outfit, who were playing under the American head coach Kenny Natt. Lebanon led the game by 15 at one point, and held a 13 point lead at halftime, but a 32-14 run in the third quarter by India turned the scoreboard around.

Down 57-64, El Nour, the hottest Lebanese player this season took it upon himself to lead the Cedars’ challenge. A fiery 3-pointer followed by a feisty three-point play brought Lebanon on par, from where things went equally before Abd El Nour drew a foul and converted both the free-throws to clinch the issue for his team.

Hareesh Koroth had 20 points for India and old-hand Talwinderjit Singh Sahi added 18.

Final Score:

• Lebanon (Jean Abd El Nour 24 pts, Ghaled Reda 15 pts, Samuel Hoskin 9 rebs, Ali Kanaan 8 rebs, Bassel Bawji 7 rebs) bt. India (Hareesh Koroth 20 pts, Talwinderjit Singh Sahi 18 pts, Amrit Pal Singh 7 rebs) 71-68 (20-16, 10-11, 14-32, 17-9)

In the other Group A game, Korea defeated Malaysia handedly, 89-42. India will play their second game against Korea on Friday afternoon.