Qatar beat Iraq to ensure progress in 2019 FIBA World Cup qualifiers

Doha: Qatar defeated Iraq 84-79 in overtime in a Group D match to progress to the second round of the Asian qualifiers for the 2019 FIBA World Cup in China.

Even though Qatar had lost to Iran and Uzbekistan they still managed to book their berth as the third best team in the group.

In the match played at Al Gharafa Indoor Hall on Monday, Qatar put in a strong performance, with Mansour Atif El Hadary scoring 21 points and Trey Johnson providing good support with 15 points, seven rebounds and five assists.

Qatar started slowly and trailed 19-24 in the first quarter and fared little better in the second, scoring 14 to Iraq's 16.

But they started coming back strongly in the third quarter to outscore Iraq 28-17 before pulling level in the fourth.

And there was not stopping Qatar in overtime which they won 9-4.