JAKARTA (Indonesia) - China hold on against Chinese Taipei to secure second place in the group, while Korea remain undefeated after a tough win over Bahrain.

Korea had already clinched the top spot in Group B, but that didn’t stop them from fending off a determined Bahrain squad to stay undefeated 78-73.

The game started out as expected as Korea went on a 6-0 run in the first quarter to build up their biggest lead of the game at 9 points. Bahrain, however, didn’t roll over and battled to keep themselves in the game. The winless Bahrain actually held the lead at halftime, but Korea weren’t about to suffer their first loss of the Asia Cup at this stage.

Even though Korea were able to quickly recover the lead, they were never really in a secure distance away from Bahrain up until the last few minutes of the contest.

Coach Choo Il Seung was able to give his key players some rest, most notably Ra GunA, as all 12 players saw playing time in this game. Choi JunYong had an efficient outing with 15 points on 6-8 shooting while also getting 7 rebounds and 3 assists.

For Bahrain, it was another dominant game from Wayne Chism who 17 points and 20 rebounds, but the shooters provided much help as well. Maitham Isa scored 20 points with 5 three-pointers while Ahmed Alderazi put up 14 points on a perfect 4-4 shooting from beyond the arc.

For China, it was another tough game as Chinese Taipei put up a battle. Chinese Taipei chipped the lead down to as close as 6 points before China powered through to a 95-80 win.

China dominated on the offensive end, especially in the paint where they scored 52 points, but were also just as effective from long range as they drilled 10 triples in the game. Leading the way were the twin towers, Wang Zhelin (17 points, 7 rebounds) and Zhou Qi (10 points, 8 rebounds in his first Asia Cup 2022 game). Sun Minghui and Zhao Rui, meanwhile, attacked from the perimeter, combining for 31 points and 13 assists on 5 three-pointers.

Chinese Taipei’s Lin Ting Chien had his best game yet after two mild performances, exploding for 30 points on just 17 attempts. Williams Artino also put in a massive effort with 18 points and 12 rebounds.

Turning Points

Teams can be defined by how them come out of the halftime break and Korea burst out of the locker room determined to get the win, even if they didn’t need to in order to get to the Quarter-Finals.

Lee DaeSung led the charge to start the second half by getting steals, making assists, and scoring some points. Bahrain later reclaimed the lead, but the tone was set from that moment onwards.

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The lead for China was already at 14 points midway through the fourth quarter, but with the way Chinese Taipei had been playing, it felt as if no lead was safe. Zhou Qi whisked away the concerns of the China fans with consecutive sequences of completely erasing an Artino shot attempt and scoring on Artino in the post.

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The fans were chanting his name non-stop in between those plays, which was well-deserved for China’s star.

Game Heroes

After playing heavy minutes in his first two game, Ra GunA finally got some much needed rest in this game. Even though he clocked only 22 minutes, Ra was still able to provide Korea with two early baskets in the fourth quarter which gave Korea the lead for good.

Zhou Qi played his first game in Asia Cup 2022 and certainly made it count. Wang Zhelin struggled to stay on the floor with foul trouble and China needed someone to keep up with the size and speed of Artino on both ends. Zhou responded to the call and made key plays down the stretch to seal the deal for China.

Stats Don’t Lie

Bahrain did well in shooting the three-pointer (38.2 percent) and taking care of the ball (12 turnovers to Korea’s 14), but struggling to finish around the basket was a key part of them being able to get the win. Korea held Bahrain to only 31.7 percent shooting from inside the arc in this contest. 

“Well, we missed shots,” was what coach Parker said about what the big factor was for Chinese Taipei in this game. The numbers back this up as Chinese Taipei only shot 26.9 percent from downtown and missed 9 free-throw attempts. Of course, China also had the advantage of making more than half of their attempts from the field.

They Said

“We’re very happy to take part in this level of competition because we were on a long time break to play against the best teams in Asia… This was not just about the results that lost all the games but we had some chances to win against China and today.” - Mindaugas Lukosius, Bahrain Head Coach

“I’m pretty proud of the guys. We didn’t play our best basketball tonight but we focused on finishing strong and getting the win… I’d like to thank the coach for allowing me to rest for you guys to see Korea basketball when I’m outside of the court to see that we’re still a strong team.” - Ra GunA, Korea

“I think both teams, particularly us, fought to the end, even though we were outsized… I really believe we have a chance to go all the way to the Semi-Finals.” - Charlie Parker, Chinese Taipei Head Coach

“Generally, game by game our players are getting better and we’re ready and we’ll have good performance for the qualifying games.” - Du Feng, China Head Coach

FIBA