By REYNALD MAGALLON
China leaned on a third quarter flurry and took down Angola, 83-76, to pick up its first win in the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup in the classification round at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Thursday, Aug. 31.
Team Dragon set the Black Antelopes ablaze in the huge third quarter showing that allowed them to establish a sizable margin it managed to protect until the final buzzer and give its bid for the 2024 Paris Olympics a big boost
Jinqui Hu spearheaded the telling 24-14 run for China to top score his team with 20 points while Chinese naturalized player Kyle Anderson (Li Kaier) put up an all-around effort of 17 points, seven rebounds, four assists, a steal and a block.
Hu Mingxuan chipped in 16 points while big man Zhou Qi still finished with 10 points despite battling through foul trouble
The win also enabled China to catch its victims at 1-3 in the Group N standings and more importantly, becoming only the second Asian team to pick up a victory in the global showpiece behind Japan who won against Finland in the pool play.
China also put much pressure on Gilas Pilipinas to also get its breakthrough win against South Sudan in the game that is being played as of press time and ahead of their highly anticipated clash on Saturday, Sept. 2.
Childe Dungdao paced Angola with 17 points while Bruno Fernando added 16 points and six rebounds all of which not enough as Angola fell behind by as many as 16 points, 78-62 midway through the final frame.
