MANILA - Marcus Douthit hurt his knee in the third quarter but the Philippines was still too strong for Qatar as the host won 80-70 at the 27th Asian Men's Basketball Championship here on Tuesday.

At the four minute and nine seconds mark of the third quarter, naturalized Douthit hurt his knee after a Qatar player fell on him. The center had to be subbed out and never made it back.

But the 18-point lead by halftime was big enough for the host to deny Qatar's late rally.

After tying 20-20 in the first quarter, Philippines only conceded two field goals to Qatar in the second and led by as much as 20 points to outscore their foes 27-9 in that period.

Former NBA player Jarvis Hayes led Qatar's comeback in the final quarter, starting a 10-2 run to cut the lead to nine. But Jayson Castro wrapped the game up for the host from the free throw line.

Despite the injury, Douthit finished with 19 points, 14 rebounds and four assists. Japeth Aguilar came off the bench for 14 point and seven boards, missing just one of his six field goal attempts, while Jeff Chan scored 12, nine of which coming on three-pointers.

With the win, Philippines improved to 3-1 in Group E and will play against Hong Kong, China on Wednesday.