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China wins 3rd straight to top Group C

Xinhua, September 25, 2015 Adjust font size:

Host team China got the third straight win after beating Jordan 84-67 on Friday, ranking first in Group C to get in the last 12 at 2015 FIBA Asia Championship.

China will face the top three teams in Group D in the last-12 round, which will eliminate another four teams and produce the quarterfinalists. China converted 55 percent of their shot into scores, and out-rebounded Jordan 48-36. China also did a better job in team work. The whole team made 19 assists, while their opponent only had seven.

"We win the first three games but all of them are different," said Chinese head coach Gong Luming. "Our team is becoming mature."

"We harvested a lot of experience."

Yi Jianlian led the game with 26 points and 14 rebounds. Point guard Guo Ailun finished with 15 points and 7 assists.

"We always started the game slow, and that's not good," said Guo after the game. "Luckily we played as tough as yesterday so we win the game after many counter attacks in the second half."

China experienced a close first half. Chinese former NBA star Yi Jianlian dominated the painting area from the beginning of the game, but Jordanian top scorer Zaid Abbas responded with a string of baskets. The two sides leveled until 10-10, when China started their fast breaking show to take a 22-17 lead.

Jordan weighed on the performance of Abbas, and the 31-year-old veteran didn't let his team down. Abbas collected as many as 15 points in the single quarter, helping Jordan to move within 1 point by the end of the period.

Yi made two straight shots to start the second quarter. Jordan made full use of their physical advantage, making a string of second chance points to close the gap again. China made good defense in the last few minutes in the second quarter, which allowed Liu Wei and Zhou Qi scored to award China a 39-34 lead at the end of the first half.

Yi scored 11 points for China in the first half. Abbas got 18, while his teammates combined 16.

The third quarter belonged to Jordan. Though Abbas had four fouls in hand, he didn't reluctant attack China's basket. China was ever leading 57-39 but Jordan cut the deficit to ten points after a 12-4 run at the end of the third quarter.

Jordan chased up to 66-57 after Abbas making a lay-up in the final quarter, but Yi and Zhou took over the game afterwards. The two big men took six straight points to push China ahead again. Jordan felt difficult to score in the rest part of the quarter, and China got a comfortable 84-67 victory.

"China is a strong team," said Jordan's head coach Rajko Toroman, "and our main goal is to give them a fight."

"We are improving game by game. Today we are much better than we were in the game against South Korea."

Jordan will need at least two wins in the last-12 round to get into the quarterfinal. Endi