TIANJIN (FIBA Asia Championship) - Japan, who fell out of the last eight for the first time in FIBA Asia Championship history, overcame a mid-game slump to defeat United Arab Emirates 86-59 in the 9-12 classification on Friday.

The win earned Japan a right to play against Kazakhstan for the ninth place.

UAE will take on fellow Gulf nation Kuwait for the 11th place.

Japan were ahead at the end of the first quarter, but UAE staged a rally late in the second and kept it through the early parts of the third quarter to go ahead in the first minutes of the second half.

Japan, however, woke up in time tightening their defence and emerged victors.

Kosuke Takeuchi was the leading scorer for Japan with a game-high 20 points. Yusuke Okada contributed 18.

Saleh Khalifa’s 15 points was the highest scorer for UAE.

FIBA Asia