2013 FIBA Asia Championship: China mauls India, wins second straight

(Updated 7:27pm) China won back-to-back games in Group F of the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship's second round on Tuesday, its last win coming in a rout of India, 79-45 at the MOA Arena.

As a result, China evened its record at 2-2, while keeping India winless at 0-4.

Although without Yi Jianlian, who sat out his fourth straight game, and Liu Xioayu, who hurt his back in their previous outing, the undermanned Chinese team had no difficulty in dispatching their overmatched foes.

“Yi might play tomorrow so he can back to the flow of the game,” said China head coach Panagiotis Giannakis, referring to their Wednesday match against Bahrain.

Young center Wang Zheijang led China with 18 points while Guo Ailun and Wang Zhizhi added 16 and 13 markers, respectively.

Wang Shipeng opened the game with a three-point shot which was countered by a basket from Narender Grewal. Zhu Fangyu connected with his own triple, followed by a connection from Vishesh Bhriguvanshi, for an 8-6 count in favor of China early in the first quarter.

Zhu then fouled Rikin Shantilal Pethani who completed an and-one play to give India their first taste of the lead. Grewal added a triple for a 12-8 count in their favor, but another triple from Zhu and an inside two from Wang Zhelin helped China get a 13-12 advantage halfway through the first quarter.

Several plays later, Zhou Peng nailed a buzzer-beating three-point shot to give China a 22-14 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Wang Zhizhi scored five straight points early in the second period to give China a 32-18 lead. The score stood pat for almost four minutes before the silence was broken by Wang Zhelin, who threw down a two-handed dunk. He added another basket at the 3:11 mark to give China a 36-18 lead.

A reverse layup by Li Xiaoxu made it an even 20-point lead at 38-18 for China, but like in the first quarter, it was Zhou who ended the second with another triple for China, creating a 45-20 deficit for India.


“The key for us is to learn from the situations we play in the group stage and play better in the knockout stage,” said Giannakis. “We are resting our players so they can be healthy for the knockout games.”

Amritpal Singh ended India’s scoring drought at the 7:25 mark of the third to eat slightly into China’s lead, which stood at 27, 49-22.

The Indians had multiple shots at closing the gap but they committed turnover after turnover. As a result, China’s margin ballooned to 29 at the 7:06 mark after a basket by Zhou.

Despite some inroads made by India, China managed to rebuild their 29-point lead late in the third quarter, thanks to back-to-back baskets by Wang Zhelin, who dominated his Indian defenders.

Guo Ailun then sank two free throws to give China a 60-29 lead heading into the final quarter.

The final quarter of the match featured ten minutes of garbage time. The Chinese made no effort to pad the lead, but because of the discrepancy between the talent of the two teams, China still garnered its biggest lead of the game, 36 points, in the final canto.

Amjyot Sing top-scored for India with 16 points, while Amritpal Singh and Narender Grewal added nine markers each.

The Chinese held their foes to just a 33 percent clip from the field while making 44 percent of their own attempts. India's 17-of-51 rate included a woeful 1-of-11 mark from downtown.

China also got a 31-14 advantage in free throw attempts, and a 13-0 difference in turnover points. - AMD, GMA News


The scores:

China 79 – Wang Zhelin 18, Guo 16, Wang Zhizhi 13, Zhou 9, Zhu 7, Sun 4, Li 4, Zhang 4, Wang Shipeng 3, Liu 0, Chen 0, Yi 0

India 45 –Amjyot Singh 16, Amritpal Singh 9, Grewal 9, Pethani 5, Bharama 2, Yadwinder Singh 2, Bhriguvanshi 2, Joginder Singh 0, Kadam 0, Pratham Singh 0, Kaushik 0, A. Singh 0

Quarter scoring: 22-14, 45-20, 60-29, 79-45