Games Friday (Al-Gharafa Stadium, Doha, Qatar)
2 p.m. — ASU-Jordan vs Astana Tigers-Kazakhstan
4 p.m. — Mahram-Iran vs Al Jalaa-Syria
6 p.m. — Al Rayyan-Qatar vs Al Hilal-Saudi Arabia
8 p.m. — Smart-Gilas Philippines vs Al Riyadi-Lebanon

DOHA, Qatar — Smart-Gilas Philippines faces an improbable task of barging into the semis as it battles the dangerous Al Riyadi of Lebanon in the crossover quarterfinals on Friday in the 21st FIBA-Asia Champions Cup at the Al-Gharafa Stadium here.

Though the odds of beating Lebanon are huge, the Nationals are hoping that their bad games are behind them as they try to beat a team which has been tipped as one of the title favorites here.

Saddled by injuries to key players, the Nationals barely made it to the quarterfinals, and could have ended their campaign in a truly embarrassing manner had it not for the heroics of Serbian import Milan Vucecivic.

The Serbian converted a hook shot with nearly no time remaining to help Smart-Gilas score a harrowing 76-74 win over Duhok-Iraq.

Prior to their victory over the Iraqis, the Nationals dropped their first three games.

While the Nationals struggled to make it to the quarters, the Lebanese had a smooth ride, completing a four-game sweep of their group.

Smart-Gilas, which is preparing for various international tournaments including the Asian Games this year in Guangzhou, China, lost against Al Rayyan of host Qatar (86-58), the Astana Tigers of Kazakhstan in overtime (77-71) and to defending champion Mahram-Iran (86-72).

Interestingly, the Lebanese will be backstopped by two imports who played in the PBA, one of them, CJ Giles, had in fact played briefly with the Gilas team. The other, Nate Johnson, played for San Miguel Beer.

Then there is superstar forward Fadi El Khatib, a many-time player of the Lebanon national team, who joined Al Riyadi this year after he was loaned by his mother team Champ Ville of Lebanon.

Smart Gilas Serbian coach Rajko Toroman said forwards like Mac Baracael, Japeth Aguilar and Aldrech Ramos will have to play smart defense on El Khatib, while the backcourt crew of Chris Tiu, Chris Lutz and Dylan Ababou must also limit the production of the 6-foot-3 Johnson.

“It will be very difficult match up for us, we have to play aggressive... stop those two guys,” said Toroman.