China beats Asian Champion Iran again in basketball friendly

Chinese Olympic team of men's basketball edged Asian Champion Iran 54-47 in the final here on Saturday to win the 2015 International Basketball Challenge.

It was China's second victory over Iran in one week as they beat their arch-rival 68-64 in Monday's first group match. Guo Ailun led China with a match-high 16 points in that match.

Guo didn't play in today's match due to illness, according to Cui Wanjun, head coach of the Chinese team. Gao Shang became the shining star. He finished with a match-high 19 points, five rebounds, two assists and one steal, and was rewarded the Most Valuable Player after the final.

Gao scored 17 of China's 25 points in the first half. Iran took a 11-0 run in two minutes and 44 seconds to take a 11-5 lead. Then Gao answered with a three-pointer, a lay-up and an And1 free-throw to score six points in-a-row.

He continued his highlight performance in the second quarter and helped the host grab the lead before halftime at 25-22.

Hamed Haddadi, who scored six points in the first quarter for Iran, failed to earn points in the second period. But he quickly found his form back in the third quarter as he led in Iran's 8-2 run in the early minutes of that quarter.

China answered with a 12-0 run and headed into the final quarter at 41-35. Iran once cut the gap to three points with five minutes left. Jia Cheng's field goal and Fang Shuo's two free-throws put China again in the leading position. Wu Qian scored a buzzer-beater with 69 seconds to the end and China led at 51-45. Kyranbek made in three free-throws to secure China the win and the title of the tournament.

Gao Shang is the only Chinese player who scored in double-digits. Jia Cheng took eight, Wu Qian and Fang Shuo scored seven apiece.

Haddadi led Iran with 14 points and eight rebounds. Endi