There is no loser in yesterday's final second round group match of the Doha Asian Games men's basketball tournament between China and Lebanon.

Asian champion and title favorite China won the hotly contested match 75-73, thanks to two free throws made by Liu Wei with 2.6 seconds to go, and cruised into the quarter-finals with a clean sheet in Group B.

While the Lebanese, who had its chance of qualifying for the knock out stage extinguished before the clash, went back home with their heads held high.

Following a fine performance at the World Championship this fall, the Asian runner-up was expected to be a major challenger to China at this Asian Games. However, due to poor preparation and the disappearance of former head coach Paul Coughter, Lebanon only managed one win against three losses before taking on China on Sunday.

With only dignity to play for and its top star Fadi El Khatib, who averaged 23.8 points in the first four games of the tournament,withdrawing with back injury, Lebanon fought bravely for a 70-66 lead with three minutes and 12 seconds remaining.

China, who had secured a top finish in the group before the game, regained the advantage at 72-70 through a 6-0 run, during which Wang Shipeng made his fourth and final three-pointer of the game.

Rony Fahed made one from the line to make it 72-71.

"We came here without preparation, our head coach had problems with the federation and we had lost three games. People back home think everybody can beat us," said Lebanon coach Koussay Khalaf, assistant to Coughter at the World Championship, where Lebanon surprised the world by beating Venezuela and France.

"We were just playing with spirit today, we wanted to give our fans some hopes for the future," he added.

Hundreds of Lebanese fans chanted and cheered for their team all through the game, contesting similar amount of fans from China.

Wang Shipeng missed one of his two free throws 4.1 seconds before the buzzer, but Zhu Fangyu grabbed the rebound and passed to Liu Wei, who forced a foul and dropped two from the line coolly.

"Generally speaking, some of our players were not prepared mentally for the game," said China head coach Jonas Kazlauskas. "Our opponents played really well today, with heart, and made a lot of problems for us."

China rested three regular starters in its opening line-up, but still jumped to a 20-11 lead in the first quarter. However, Lebanon steadily pulled within 35-34 at the end of the first half.

Recalling all their regular starters at the beginning of the second half, China ran off 12 unanswered points for a 61-49 lead with one minute left in the third quarter, only to see Lebanon pulling within 61-60 early in the fourth.

"Many players (of China) thought it would be a much easier game as Lebanon played without some main players. But without fighting, without heart, it's difficult to win any game," Kazlauskas stressed.

Wang Zhizhi scored 20 points in 24 minutes to lead the Chinese side. NBA prospect Yi Jianlian only managed 11 points and eight rebounds in less than 30 minutes.

China will play in Tuesday's quarter-finals against defending champion South Korea, who upset the host Qatar 87-81 in an over-time thriller on Saturday.

"They played a good game against Qatar, I expected it will be a very difficult game for both teams (China and South Korea)," Kazlauskas said.