JAKARTA – China beat Iran, 84-72, on Saturday night to regain the men's basketball gold medal in the 18th Asian Games at the GBK Istora.
Abudushalamalu Abudurexiti had 20 points while going 4-of-5 from three-point land while Zhou Ri and Tian Yuxiang had 16 points each for China, which wrested the gold medal it lost to Korea in 2014 in Incheon.
China has now won eight of the last 11 Asian Games men’s basketball gold medals.
Houston Rockets center Zhou Qi added 15 points, 11 rebounds, and four blocks while shooting 3-of-5 from beyond the three-point arc. He was in tears moments later as teammates draped him with the country’s flag.
Hamed Haddadi had 27 points and 10 rebounds while Mohammadsamad Nikkhabahrami had 13 points and eight assists as Iran finished with a silver medal for the second straight edition of the Asian Games.
Korea, meanwhile, took the bronze with an 89-81 win over Chinese Taipei. Ricardo Ratliffe had 37 points and 17 rebounds for the Koreans.
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