2013 FIBA Asia Championship: Wang wills China past Jordan 

In a rematch of the 2011 FIBA Asia Championship, albeit under less auspicious circumstances, China escaped Jordan, 79-74, in a placement match in this year's edition of the tourney, Saturday, at the Mall of Asia Arena.

China will face the winner between Qatar and Kazakhstan to dispute fifth place, while Jordan will face the loser to contest the seventh spot.

Jordan rallied back from double-digit deficits twice, including a 16-6 blitz late in the fourth quarter. Powered by three triples from Wessam Al-Sous, Jordan snatched a 74-73 lead with a minute and change left.

Wang Zhizhi drew and and-one with 44 seconds left, consistent with China's big man-oriented offense in the fourth. Jordan called their penultimate timeout and were forced into a tough miss by Jimmy Baxter, but they kept possession as the ball fell out of bounds. They couldn't get another crack at scoring though as they turned the ball over, and Baxter was forced to foul Yi Jianlian with 17 ticks left.

Sent to the line, Yi made just the second free throw and Jordan called their final timeout, 77-74. China didn't foul after the inbounds and allowed Al-Sous to miss a triple from the right corner. Yi secured the miss once more and was fouled, this time making both tries with eight ticks left.

Wang Zhizhi led China with 33 points and seven rebounds. Yi added 18 points and five assists, while Zhou Peng had 13 points.

Wang Zhelin started the game with a two-handed jam, signaling things to come for China. Meanwhile, only Mohammed Hadrab had success against China's defense, exploiting the lane for six points, trailing 13-6.

With two and a half minutes left, Wang Zhizhi scored China's last five points as they fended off a Jordan offensive, highlighted by a Mahmoud Abdeen trey. China led after the first quarter, 18-12.

Jordan began the second quarter with renewed aggressiveness, while China struggled with easy shots, trimming the deficit to two on charities by Jimmy Baxter. Zhou came to their rescue with a three-pointer, 23-18, but a Chinese turnover led to a breakaway slam by Baxter, 23-20, forcing China to call for time with four and a half minutes to play.

China returned as Wang Zhizhi and Yi Jianlian scored six straight in the lane. Jordan made a late run as Wessam Al-Sous drilled a triple to pull within two, but Jordan's inability to control the inside resulted in a Zhou layup moments later, and a 31-27 deficit at halftime.

China shot 12-of-28 (48 percent) after two quarters, while Jordan went 10-of-31 (32 percent).

Both teams went back-and-forth in the third period. Baxter and Al-Sous carried the load for Jordan but found themselves outplayed by Wang Zhizhi. The veteran big man barreled through the lane, drawing two and-ones for eight points in a 10-2 run, 48-37.

Jordan's offense began to click with under five minutes to play, as Ahmed Alhamarsheh and Hussein squeezed through the cracks to lead a 15-7 run. Jordan conceded just two more field goals to China, to trail 55-52 entering the final frame.

Wang Zhizhi scored 12 of China's 22 points in the period.

Jordan equalized right away in the fourth quarter, 56-all, off charities by Baxter, but China killed their momentum by sealing up the lane, and Wang Shipeng and Wang Zhizzhi mounted an 8-2 counterattack, 67-58, with four minutes remaining.

Al-Sous and Hani Alfaraj kept Jordan from going under though. The pair began to stroke it from outside, combining for four triples while limiting the Chinese bigs in the paint. Jordan went on a 16-6 run, capped by an Al-Sous trey, to snatch the lead with a minute and change left, 74-73.

China finished the game with a 25-of-53 (55 percent) shooting mark, while Jordan improved to 27-of-62 (44 percent). Jordan made 8-of-24 (33 percent) from downtown, while China made just one of nine three-pointers (11 percent).

China led in points in the paint, 38-28.

Wessam Al-Sous top-scored for Jordan with 17 points. Jimmy Baxter and Mohammed Hadrab added 13 points each, with Baxter securing eight boards. - RAF, GMA News



The scores:

China 79 - Zhizhi Wang 33, Yi 18, Zhou 13, Zhelin Wang 8, S. Wang 6, Zhu 1, Liu 0, Guo 0, Sun 0

Jordan 76 - Al-Sous 17, Baxter 13, Hadrab 13, Alfaraj 7, Hussein 7, Alhamarsheh 6, Abdeen 5, Zaghab 5, Abu Ruqayah 2, Al Dwairi 1, Alnajjar 0

Quarter scoring: 18-12, 31-27, 55-52, 79-76