Asian runner-up Lebanon suffered its second straight defeat at the Doha Asian Games men's basketball tournament as it lost to Kazakhstan 80-75 here on Wednesday.

Lebanon stayed within 70-69 late in the hotly contested game of second round Group B, but Kazakhstan staged a 9-3 run to improve it to 79-72 with 36.2 seconds to go.

Rony Fahed of Lebanon nailed a big three-pointer to cut it to 79-75, only to see Yevgeniy Issakov make a free throw with 22.8 seconds remaining to make it 80-75.

Anton Ponomarev had 27 points and 16 rebounds to lead Kazakhstan, who improved to a 2-1 record after three games.

Fadi El Khatib, who notched game-high 34 points and pulled down13 rebounds in 40 minutes for Lebanon, missed an easy shot just under the basket before receiving an offense foul call in the dying seconds.

"We played with no defense," said Joseph Vogel, who contributed 15 points and 11 rebounds for Lebanon.

"We started our preparation only five days before the tournament, we can't beat teams that have prepared for the whole summer," he added.

Both teams struggled with their shooting in the physical game. Kazakhstan finished 28-for-77 from the field, compared to 27-for-81 for Lebanon.

Earlier on Wednesday, Japan beat Uzbekistan 75-56 for its third straight victory.