Japan defeated Hong Kong 89-62 on Tuesday to confirm a place in the FIBA Asia Championships quarterfinals and put itself just one win away from a spot in the Rio 2016 pre-Olympic qualifying basketball tournament.
Joji Takeuchi and Makoto Hiejima again were pivotal in Japan's 27-point victory, scoring 17 and 19, respectively, despite each playing just over 20 minutes in the game. Kenta Hirose had his best game of the tournament, scoring 12 points while adding three assists and three rebounds.
"Making the knockout phase was the absolute minimum requirement and we have cleared that," Takeuchi said after the game. "We didn't start very well in the second round so we have to do that and raise our game."