Xinhua Photo

China made an astonishing comeback Tuesday to advance to the quarterfinals of the FIBA Asia Cup after beating Syria 81-79, while Jordan played a close game against Iraq before winning 84-70 to move to the quarters.

After leading most of the game with 15 points at one time, Syria did not manage to level up with the Chinese players who dominated the fourth quarter and scored 25 points against 11 and that was enough for China to advance to the quarterfinals to play against Australia on Thursday.

Syria had the possibility of leveling the score at 1.4 seconds from the end with William al-Haddad on the freethrow line but failed to score both shots.

Madanly was the first player in the current tournament to score 35 points in one game but this was not enough for his team to move forward.

In the other game played tonight, Iraq did not benefit from the sometimes hasty plays of Jordan that saw them commit 25 turnovers and eventually break down almost completely in the 4th.

At the final whistle, Jordan won the game and moved to the quarterfinals to play New Zealand on Thursday.