China beats U.S. Star Team in basketball

China beat the U.S. Star Team 80-65 in the first of the three-game basketball series on Wednesday.

The new Chinese team, assembled in late this March, had a 20-9 lead over the visitors in the first quarter and never looked back.

"We did well defensively," said Wang Zhelin, 21, who had a team-high 18 points.

"A little bit tight on the offensive side, but we made adjustment in the second half, which turned out to be very good."

The U.S. Star Team is composed of 10 players from NBDL or NCAA.

"All of our players came through NCAA system," said U.S. head coach Daimon Beathea, who worked as assistant coach of CBA Shanghai Sharks several years ago.

"We have some players who are hungry to be better to get to the NBA and CBA. so the game means a lot for us."

Four big men - Li Muhao, Zhou Qi, Zou Yuchen and Wang - totaled 42 points for China. Li, 23, is the oldest among the team.

"He's got a chance to be an NBA player," said Beathea about Wang. "He's got a lot of size and a lot of skills."

U.S. Star had cut the gap to four points in the third quarter, only to see China run away after Liu Xiaoyu and Zhai Xiaochuan made their basket.

"The game is only a part of our plan," said Gong Luming, head coach of Team China.

"Our defense was as good as I expected but we didn't play as well on the offensive side. Besides, a good team didn't make 22 turnovers." Enditem