CHENZHOU (FIBA Asia Champions Cup 2017) - China Kashgar's strong start propelled them past Chooks-To-Go Philippines to move on to the Semi-Finals of the FIBA Asia Champions Cup 2017.

China Kashgar were expected to parade big man Andray Blatche against his fellow Filipinos, but it turned out that the hosts did not even need their 2.11m to play. Darius Adams caught fire early and often to lead China's slaying of Chooks-To-Go, which smarted from a slow start and could not fully recover. The biggest difference here was offense. The Chinese shot the ball at a very good clip, making more than 50% of their field goals. In contrast, the Filipinos sputtered, nailing just under 38% of their own shots.

Adams paced the victors with 23 points on 9-of-17 field goal shooting, including sinking 5 three-pointers. Former national team point guard Mugadaer Xirelijiang also impressed, hitting 6 triples of his own en route to 20 points.

Not surprisingly, the dynamic duo of Isaiah Austin and Kiefer Ravena led the way for Chooks-To-Go with 16 points apiece, while Jett Manuel came off the bench to toss in 10 points of his own. Key player Carl Cruz could not find the mark from rainbow country here, making only 1 of his 10 three-point tries.

Defending champions China Kashgar next duel with BC Astana in the Semi-Finals even as Chooks-To-Go have been relegated to the classification round against Al Ahli Dubai.

FIBA