FOILED three times in the group phase, China finally found a prey in Angola yesterday.
Leaning on a key second half charge, Team Dragon turned back the Black Antelopes 83-76 for their first win in Group M of the classification round of the 19th FIBA World Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
China’s triumph put a lot of pressure on Gilas Pilipinas in its duel with South Sudan at press time last night.
The Filipino cagers tackle the Chinese in what is looming to be a blockbuster tiff tomorrow, Saturday, also at the Big Dome.
Six-foot-11 big man Hu Jinqiu notched a game-high 20 points, grabbed three rebounds, and issued two assists for the Chinese, while naturalized player Kyle Anderson (Li Kaier) of the Minnesota Timberwolves chipped in 17 markers, seven boards, and four dimes.
Hu Mingxuan and Zhou Qi also had 13 and 10 points, respectively, as China scored its breakthrough win in the world basketball extravaganza and boosted its bid of becoming the best-ranked Asian team to gain a slot in the Paris Olympics next year.
Team Dragon wound up winless with a 0-3 record in Group B preliminaries, counting an 89-107 loss to Puerto Rico two nights back.
It was also the China’s first victory against Angola in the World Cup after losing 96-112 in Buenos Aires 33 years ago and 84-96 in Indianapolis in 2002.
The Black Antelopes went into the match aching to rebound from a 67-75 defeat to the Dominican Republic in Group A play last Tuesday and dropped to 1-3.
“Very tough night for us. Two nights ago, the players finished the game against Puerto Rico and today that was my concern. Playing at 4 o’clock, we didn’t have enough time to recover our legs, but I think they did an exceptional job,” China coach Aleksandar Djordjevic said. “I’m proud of them, how they stayed focused, nevertheless, we were a little bit sloppy at the start. That was due to a little bit of tension but after we talked after a couple of timeouts and released a little bit of that, we just started playing basketball.
“We were capable of playing against Angola. Angola put us in a difficult situation with their low post play late. They had 24 rebounds and 12 offensive rebounds in the first half,” he added.
After a 45-all game at the half, Team Dragon surged ahead and led 69-59 heading into the fourth canto.
A Jinqiu putback slam dunk gave China its biggest lead at 78-62 with 5:02 left before the Chinese fended off a last-ditch fightback from Angola.
Going in vain was Childe Dundao’s 17 points, three caroms, and eight feeds, while Bruno Fernando of the Atlanta Hawks added 16 points and six rebounds.
Silvio De Sousa and Jilson Bango had 13 and 10 points, respectively, for the Black Antelopes.
