ULAANBAATAR (Malaysia) - China inched closer to booking a direct flight to the FIBA U16 Asia Cup Quarter-Finals after making quick work of Malaysia, 100-44, Monday evening at the Buyant Ukhaa Sport Complex.
Team Dragon hardly broke a sweat in whipping their Southeast Asian counterparts, unloading a 21-4 start into the game before building a massive 50-22 lead at the break on the way to their second win in as many outings.
Lyu Feiyan top-scored for the three-time champions with 18 points alongside 8 rebounds. Zhao Boxin produced 14 points and 8 rebounds of his own in 19 minutes off the bench, while Zhang Yizhaojie supplied 12 points.
Zhang Ziyi notched a double-double of 11 points and 11 rebounds as four finished in double figures in the victory that saw the Coach Wang Jiangjun's wards shoot 45..5-percent from the floor, including 13 threes.
The rest of the 12-man unit scored at least 3 points, thanks to their 27 assists.
China will look to lock up the no. 1 spot in Group C against Korea on Tuesday, September 2, 16:30 local time at the MBank Arena to guarantee themselves an outright qualification to the final eight set September 5.
The 2015 gold medalists, though, are shooting for the exact same thing as they're also heading into the heavyweight clash toting a 2-0 card as well following an 85-59 victory over Mongolia later in the night.
Park Beomyoun led the way again with 25 points and 9 rebounds, while Park Taejoon backed him up with 23 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists as they formed a solid 1-2 combo to help the team take control early.
With the tandem showing the way, the Koreans got going and finished the opening period with a 22-13 lead, and it won't take them long to pull away for good as they did so in the next frame for a 43-31 halftime lead.
Their lead would balloon to as big as 29 points, 81-52, courtesy of Min Seungbin during the fourth.
Leading the hosts' charge were Sukhbat Damdin with 16 points and 14 rebounds and Munkhnairamdal Munkh-Erdene with 12 points but the young Blue Wolves ultimately fell to their second straight loss (0-2).
Mongolia are left with no choice but to beat Malaysia on Tuesday if they are to stay alive.
FIBA