FIBA Asia: China vents ire on hapless Malaysia, eclipses Iran's margin
Facing China is daunting enough. Facing a Chinese team that's coming off a shocking loss the night before is even worse.
Malaysia discovered this harsh reality after defending champion China, which was coming off a defeat suffered at the hands of Korea, showed no mercy in a 113-22 win in Group C of the 27th FIBA Asia Championship at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Even without top gun Yi Jianlian, the Chinese bounced back in dominant fashion for their first victory in the biennial cage championships.
Promising Wang Zhelin took the cudgels with 21 points and nine rebounds while three other teammates churned in at least 16 markers apiece as the Chinese recovered from a shock 59-63 defeat dealt by South Korea less than 24 hours ago.
It was the second straight blowout defeat for the Malaysians, who absorbed an equally numbing 25-115 defeat in the opener against powerhouse Iran.
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The 7-foot Yi, who finished with a double-double outing of 23 points and 10 rebounds against the Koreans, sat out the match and showed up in street clothes as he recovers from hamstring and groin injuries going to their titanic clash with the Iranians on Saturday at 5:45 p.m.
Unlike their tentative play against the Koreans, China’s dreaded inside-outside force was in full display, towering down low with 56 points while making 12 of their 26 attempts from beyond the arc.
The Chinese also translated 33 Malaysian turnovers into 43 big points.
Wasting no time in asserting its dominance, China jumped the gun on Malaysia by scoring the game’s first 28 points before padding its cushion to 55-12 edge at the break.
Not yet done, the Chinese squad uncorked another jarring 20-2 run that stretched their lead to 79-19 entering the payoff period.
The Malaysians, led by Ban Sin Ooi’s nine markers, only made eight field goals from 44 attempts, one of them coming in the fourth where they only had three points.
The scores:
China (113) - Wang Zhelin 21, Wang Zhizhi 17, Zhu Fangyu 16, Guo Ailun 16, Zhuo Peng 9, Zhang B0 8, Li Xiaoxu 8, Li Xiaoyu 7, Sun Yue 6, Wang Shipeng 5, Cheng Jianhua 0.
Malaysia (22) – Ooi Ban Sin 9, Foong Min Joe 4, Gan Hon Hoong 3, Wong Chin Yong 2, Kuek Tian Yuan 2, Tong Wen Keong 2, Mak Long Seng 0, Ng Sing Tee 0, Soo Eng Heng 0.
Quarterscores: 31-2, 55-12, 79-19, 113-22
