Puerto Rico beat China for 1st win
After two failed attempts, Puerto Rico have finally notched their first win of the FIBA World championships. The Puerto Ricans relied on a solid second quarter to defeat China, 84-76, in their Group C showdown in Ankara.
It was actually China who started out well, racing to a 19-12 lead. But the Puerto Ricans countered with an 8-0 run to go on top 20-19 after Renaldo Balkman scored on a lay-up. Wang Zhizhi responded with a basket to beat the buzzer and give the Chinese a one-point advantage after the first quarter. Wang and Yi Jianlian were the only scorers for China in the opening period.
The tempo of the game, however, shifted in favour of the Puerto Ricans in the second quarter. Back-to-back treys from David Huertas and Nathan Peavy and a three-point play from Balkman allowed Puerto Rico to take a 32-26 advantage mid-way in the quarter. Manolo Cintron’s wards took a 44-37 half-time lead.
China staged a comeback in the third, scoring eight straight points to retake the lead. A trey from Sun Yue gave China a 45-44 edge. However, the celebration was short-lived for the Asian giants as Puerto Rico unleashed their own run. Carmelo Lee buried a three-pointer before centre Peter John Ramos converted a basket off an assist from JJ Barea. Barea then nailed another trey to extend Puerto Rico's lead to 62-53. The Chinese rallied again, trimming their opponents' lead to three points after Sun sank another trey with less than eight minutes remaining in the quarter. The Puerto Ricans ended the period with a 63-57 cushion.
Puerto Rico again pulled away from their opponents early in the fourth. A powerful slam by Peavy off an assist from Barea pushed Puerto Rico's lead to 77-69. The Puerto Ricans enjoyed their biggest lead at the 4:45 mark after Balkman made a lay-up. The Caribbean side held on to their lead the rest of the way to notch their first win.
Angel Vassallo led the Puerto Ricans with 22 points while Barea had 13 points, nine assists and four rebounds. Peavy and Lee also had 13 points while Balkman had a double-double performance of 10 points and 13 rebounds. Yi topscored for the Chinese with 24 points. Former National Basketball Association players Wang and Sun contributed 17 and 12 points, respectively. Veteran guard Liu Wei had 11 points and three assists.
Puerto Rico will try to make it two wins in a row then they meet hosts Turkey tomorrow. The Puerto Ricans started their campaign with back-to-back losses to Russia (66-75) and Greece (80-83). China will next face Russia. The Chinese lost to the Greeks, 81-89, in their opening game but bounced back with an 83-73 victory over Cote d'Ivoire on Sunday.
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