CHINA got a huge challenge from Saudi Arabia before pulling off the 87-77 win and a locking up a place in the men’s basketball semifinals of the 20th Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan.
The same team that won its three games in the preliminaries by an average of 46 points including a 105-61 thrashing of Gilas Pilipinas, had a hard time putting away the Falcons, who stayed within 75-72 with 4:26 left to play.
READ Cone reveals original 13-man Gilas lineup for Asian Games
But Hu Jinqiu and Hu Mingxuan helped the Chinese outscore the Falcons, 12-5, the rest of the way to clinch the victory at the Aichi International Arena.
Liao Sanning had a game-high 30 points, grabbed seven rebounds, and issued four assists, while Yu Jiahao added 16 points and nine rebounds for the No. 1 seed, which faces the winner of the quarterfinal between host Japan and Chinese Taipei.
Also advancing to the Final Four were South Korea and Iran, which disposed of their respective opponents also on Wednesday.
The second-seeded Koreans trounced Jordan, 114-80, while Team Melli edged out Bahrain, 79-74.
South Korea raced to an early 28-8 lead and was never threatened by Jordan as Lee Hyun Jung fired 6-of-10 from three-point range to finish with 28 points.
Mohammad Jamshidi paced Iran with 20 points while Arsalan Kazemi had 11 rebounds and 10 assists.
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