HOST Japan dominated top seed China in a wire-to-wire 97-77 win to set up a finale with South Korea for the men's basketball gold of the 20th Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan.
Akatsuki Japan held Team Dragon to 15 points each in the first two quarters to take full control of their semifinal match before a sold out crowd at the Aichi International Arena.
READ: South Korea books Asiad final berth with dominant rout of Iran
By halftime, the host team sat on a 49-30 lead, and then poured 34 points in the third period to take a huge 31-point cushion heading to the final 10 minutes of the game.
By that time, the celebration also began for the host team, which will be assured of its best finish in 64 years since placing runner up to the Philippines in the 1962 Asiad in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Akatsuki Japan and no. 2 seeded South Korea will dispute the gold on Sunday.
China, which beat Gilas Pilipinas by 44 points in a payback win during the group stage, is now relegated in the battle for the bronze against Iran.
Young forward Ren Kanechika had a team-high 19 points on 4-of-8 shooting from three-point range, while John Harper Jr. was 4-of-5 from the same spot to finish with 14 points for Akatsuki Japan, which hit 40 percent of its shots (12-of-30) from beyond the arc.
Favored to win the gold after romping its way to the knockout quarterfinals, China got 16 points from big man Hu Jinqiu and 13 from Cui Yongxi, but hotshot Liao Sanning was held to just six points on 22 percent shooting from the field (2-of-9).
Team Dragon is now poised to just duplicate its bronze medal finish in the 2022 Hangzhou Asiad where it was dethroned by Gilas Pilipinas after losing a huge 20-point lead in their semifinals clash, 77-76.
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