2013 FIBA Asia Championship: China defeats Qatar, settles for fifth 

China ended their campaign with a 96-85 win over Qatar, Sunday at the Mall of Asia Arena, good enough for fifth place at the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship.

Prior to this year's games, China had won 15 of the last 19 FIBA Asia Championships. They are still the winningest team in competition history with 15 golds, a silver and two bronze medals, for a total of 18 top-three finishes.

It was a tight game at the start of the first, with Wang Zhizhi building a three-point lead off a Yi Jianlian assist with 6:20 remaining, 9-6.

Free throws from Khalid Suliman Abdi, followed by a conversion from Mohd Mohamed gave Qatar a taste of the lead at 10-9, before Yi and Wang, fueled a 9-2 Chinese run for an 18-12 edge.

Qatar ended the first period strong though, as Daoud Mosa Daoud canned two charities with two minutes to go. Mohammed Saleem Abdullah and Mansour Elhadary then went on a 7-0 tear of their own, giving Qatar a one-point lead after one, 21-20.

Wang Zhizhi anchored a 15-4 run to start the second, to put Cina up 35-25 at the 4:50 mark after a Wang Shipeng trey. The Qataris responded with a run of their own, going on a 15-5 blast punctuated by an Abdulrahman Saad long bomb to tie the game at 40-all. Wang Shipeng and Zhu Fangyu had the last say in the second though, giving China a 45-40 lead at the half.

China continued to build on their lead in the third, as Wang Zhizhi and Guo built an 18-point advantage midway through the period. Baker Ahmad Mohammed briefly trimmed the lead with 68 seconds to go in the period, but Wang and Zhu completed a five-point swing to end the third with China comfortably ahead, 70-55.

Mohamed and Mohammed made it interesting with four minutes left in the game, cutting their deficit to 11, but Wang and Guo Ailun did their job on the free throw line, establishing a 15-point lead. Back-to-back hits from Mohammed and Saad ended the game, 96-85.

Guo Ailun led China with 21 points off the bench, while Wang Shipeng and Wang Zhizhi added 14 and 13, respectively. Yi Jianlian had 12, and Zhu Fangyu scored 10.

Mansour Elhadary had 23 points, while Baker Ahmad Mohammed had 22, Mohd Mohamed and Abdulrahman Saad had 13 each.

China shot 33-of-62 for 53 percent, while Qatar managed to convert 33-of-67 attempts for 49 percent. Qatar barely edged China in assists (18-16), while the winning team overpowered the Qataris on the boards (36-33). - RAF, GMA News


The scores:

China 96 - Guo 21, S. Wang 14, Zhizhi Wang 13, Yi 12, Zhu 10, Zhelin Wang 9, Zhou 8, Zhang 4, Sun 3, Liu 2

Qatar 85 - Elhadary 23, Mohammed 22, Saad 13, Mohamed 13, Daoud 5, Malek Saleem Abdullah 3, Abdi 2, Ali 2, Mohammed Saleem Abdullah 2

Quarter scoring: 20-21, 45-40, 70-55, 96-85