BEIRUT, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- Lebanon beat Syria 87-63 Friday in their third qualifier for the FIBA World Cup which will be hosted by China in 2019.

At the Nouhad Nawfal Stadium in Lebanon's coastal city of Zouk Mikael, Lebanon improved their record to two wins and one loss after beating India and losing to Jordan in Amman.

After a slow start, Lebanon were down 15-7 but the Cedars team used a 11-3 run to level it 18-18 then to 27-20 in the first quarter.

After leading 47-40 in the first half, Lebanon outscored the Syrian team 24-10 in the third quarter to build a 21-point lead.

Lebanese Amir Saoud was the highest scorer in the game with 26 points while the best scorer for Syria's team was Justin Hawkins with 24 points. Enditem