PASAY CITY (Philippines) - China made sure that history won't repeat itself as they escaped Chinese Taipei, 100-93, to sweep their Window 2 games in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027 Asian Qualifiers, Sunday.
Having lost to their long-time rivals at the Mall of Asia Arena back in 2013, Team Dragon appeared to be in trouble when they found themselves trailing after three until their long-time key cogs came to the rescue.
Zhao Rui got fouled during an attempt from deep and went 2-of-3 from the line for the 95-93 lead with 1:42 left, marking the beginning of the end for their foes as Justin Lu missed both of his game-tying attempts. Hu Jinqiu went on to ice the game by making three of his foul shots inside the final 16.8 seconds, eventually securing the win that brought flashbacks of their dramatic win against Japan in Okinawa the last time out.
It could be recalled that China fought back from as much as 15 points down on the way to dealing the Japanese their first loss - and, more importantly, barging into the win column after losing twice in a row in Window 1.
As a result, they've improved to 2-2 in Group B, effectively bringing themselves back into contention while Chinese Taipei absorbed their third loss in four outings after failing to follow up their big win over Korea at home.
Key players
Zhu Junlong top-scored for Team China with 19 points as he sank five of their 13 three-pointers. Hu finished with 15 points behind a 7-of-8 clip from the charity stripe, which he laced with 6 rebounds.
Zhao Jiwei supplied 13 points, 3 rebounds, and the same number of assists off the bench before fouling out late in the game. Zhao Rui tallied a 12-5-5 stat line plus 1 steal, while He Xining chipped in 10 points.
Yu Jiahao and Li Hongquan contributed significantly in the victory as well. The young frontcourt tandem scored 9 points apiece and combined for 17 of the team's 46 rebounds - 15 more than their counterparts.
Turning point
Li was crucial in triggering the late rally, with his pair of buckets turning 89-82 Chinese Taipei advantage to just a point. Then came his seniors, coming through to put together the run that turned things around.
Jiwei went on to tie things up at 91-all with a three-pointer from way beyond with 2:44, and momentum would completely shift their way as China finished the game with an 18-4 assault in an ultimate flex of poise.
Bottomline
Aside from finishing Window 2 via sweep, the present-day China also atoned for the heartbreak that their predecessors suffered at Chinese Taipei's hands during the 2013 FIBA Asia Cup Quarter-Finals in this venue.
They said
"I told our team that it will go down the wire, and the game has to be played for 40 minutes - both offensively and defensively. I want to thank my team because this was a team win, and we dedicate this to all of the members of Team China." - Guo Shiqiang, Head Coach, China
"This window is very difficult for us, and so it means a lot to us to win two games. It actually changes the team's mentality and I'm sure that it has awakened the whole team. But the job is not done yet because there's still Window 3 coming up." - Zhao Jiwei, Guard, China
"There's only one word for this game, and that's 'proud.' I'm really proud of my players, my team. We did a great job during the game, unfortunately there were some few episodes in the last quarter that changed the game ... We need to consider this as one of our best games despite the result." - Gianluca Tucci, Head Coach, Chinese Taipei
"This was a very, very tight game. Ultimately, we fell short. We all tried very hard, we all played until the last whistle, and that's what the game is always about. We executed our defense as well as we could, we rebounded well, tried to have confidence in our offense, we tried to shoot with certainty, we tried to find open looks ... It was good teamwork all around so we have to give credit to the whole team." - Ray Chen, Guard, Chinese Taipei
FIBA