China holds off Germany in Sino-European Basketball Championship

Chinese men's basketball team resisted Germany's comeback efforts in the fourth quarter for a 71-67 win, tasting its second straight victory in the 2016 Sino-European Men's Basketball Championship here on Saturday.

Former NBA player Yi Jianlian had a team-high 17 points in less than 18 minutes. Li Gen and Dingyan Yuhang added 16 and 10 points respectively.

The visitors didn't open their scoring account in more than four minutes after the tip-off, but China didn't take the chance with its own trouble in the offensive end, just building a 5-0 lead. The Chinese players improved their offensive efficiency with NBA rookie Zhou Qi on the court, leading at 17-11 in the first quarter.

After the German team tied the score at 19, China's head coach Gong Luming sent on point guard Zhao Jiwei, who earned China a 9-0 run and built an eight-point lead into the halftime.

Yi shone in both ends of the third quarter, with a spectacular block against Germany's fast break, and then a dunk to please the home crowd.

With a 14-point margin into the final 12 minutes, China benched its star player Yi, before Wang Zhelin and Li Muhao were both fouled out. Germany once cut the deficit to three points, but the hosts sealed the win with solid performance on free throw line.

France crushed over Montenegro 89-68 in the other matchup.

China will face France, who also had a 2-0 record in the tournament, on Sunday. Endit