PUR/CHN – Puerto Rico notch first win

ANKARA (2010 FIBA World Championship) – Puerto Rico registered their first win at the 2010 FIBA World Championship by getting the better of China 84-76 in a fast pace game.

Angel Vassallo had 22 points and JJ Barea added 13 to go along with nine assists.

Wang Zhizhi and Yi Jianlian combined to account for all 21 of China’s first quarter points as they held a one-point lead.

Bob Donewald’s side were up 19-12 but Puerto Rico scored eight unanswered points to edge in front 20-19 on Renaldo Balkman’s lay-up before Zhizhi hit a turnaround shot from the baseline at the buzzer to put China back in front.

Manolo Cintron’s men got back in front as David Huertas and Nathan Peavy each connected from beyond the arc and Balkman converted a three-point play that made it 32-26 midway through the second period.

Carmelo Lee and Vassallo closed out the first half for a 44-37 advantage.

China scored the first eight points of the third quarter to take a 45-44 lead on Sun Yue’s three pointer.

But Puerto Rico were soon back in front as they scored almost at will in transition, Lee hitting from beyond the arc before Barea fed Peter John Ramos inside and then the point guard kept the ball the next time down to knock down a deep three-pointer that made it 62-53.

The Chinese rallied back once more and were within 67-64 when Sun Yue buried a corner three with 7:51 left to play.

But Barea continued to run the transition game to perfection, feeding Vassallo for a dunk and later fed a cutting Nathan Peavy for a powerful slam over the Chinese defense to make it 77-69.

Balkman’s lay-up with 4:45 remaining gave Puerto Rico their biggest lead at 80-69 and they held trigger-happy China in check the rest of the way.

Quotes:

Manolo Cintron (Puerto Rico head coach): “China played very hard. We played our best game of the tournament. We played good defense and played well all around.”

Angel Vassallo (Puerto Rico forward): “We played a good game. We did as much as we could. We did good on defence. China didn’t give up until the end but we won.”

Bob Donewald Jr (China head coach): “Puerto Rico are just longer than us and they used that well. They did a better job with the ball than we did.”

Yi Jianlian (China forward/centre): “They did a great job especially rebounding the ball. We fought hard until the end. Now we have to focus on the next game.”


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