Syria beat Hong Kong, China 89-61 here on Sunday to secure a place in top 12 at the 2006 Doha Asian Games men's basketball tournament.

Lee Kiu Fung of Hong Kong fights for the ball with Firas Masri (R) and Rami Alkatib (L) of Syria during the men's Group C first round basketball match at the 15th Asian Games in Doha November 26, 2006. [Reuters]

Syria, the 84-66 winner over Afghanistan on Friday, finished top of the preliminary Group C with two victories against no loss.

Syria jumped to a 11-2 lead in the first quarter, but the Hong Kong team fought back hardly with their quick offense in the second to tie it 32-all at the half time.

After the game resumed, the Hong Kong players, who were much smaller than their opponents, suddenly lost steam to allow Syria surge away with a 31-7 run in the third quarter.

"Hong Kong, China played very well, especially in the first half,but we tried to take advantage of our height in the second half," said Syria coach Basel Hamwi.

"We are very happy to enter the next round and we will see how well we can do out there," he added.

Mohamad Nour Al Saman led Syria with 22 points and Wissam Yakoub,who with a height of 2.13 meters dominated the inside game, added 18 points and 14 rebounds.

Syria will face Qatar, South Korea, Iran, Jordan and Bahrain in the next round round-robin competitions with top four finishers from the pool to qualify for the quarter-finals.

Earlier on Sunday, Uzbekistan defeated Palestine 78-60 to advance as the winner from the preliminary Group B.