CHN / KAZ – China consolidate on first half flurry

TIANJIN (FIBA Asia Championship) - China outscored Kazakhstan 20-4 midway through the first half and consolidated on it to record a 74-56 victory in their Group C game on Friday.

The crowd which was the largest on the opening day was even larger today and they surely had a lot to cheer about the home team’s performance.

Yi Jianlian scored four and Wang Shipeng sank two sizzling three-pointers and China had moved away from an equal-looking 17-14 to an overwhelming 37-18 lead in a dominance that ran on either side of the first quarter break.

Kazakhstan kept themselves in the game matching their rivals, but that Chinese spree kept the hosts always ahead. China won by 18 points, incidentally almost exactly the difference they notched in that spree.

“I think our defence took time to settle down,” China coach Gu Shiqiang said.

“Also I think we need to concentrate a little bit more on our offensive rebounds,” Shiqiang added.

Yi scored 17 points to share the scoring honours for the game with Wang Zhi Zhi.

Yi was 7/14 on the field, and pulled down 10 rebounds. Wang Zhi Zhi collected a game-high 14 rebounds to go with his scoring.

Wang Shipeng converted three of his six three-pointer attempts to return 15 points.

Anton Ponomarev led the scoring for Kazakhstan with 15 points and eight rebounds.

Though that went in a losing cause his regaining must have surely pleased Kazakhstan coach Vitaly Strebkov.

“I think we did alright against a formidable opposition like China,” said Nikholay Mikhalchuk the manager of the team speaking on behalf of the coaching staff.

Rustam Yargaliyew had 14 points and junior star Alexander Tyutyunik converted three of his five three-pointer attempts for his 11 points.

S Mageshwaran
FIBA Asia

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