Korea did just enough to douse China’s uprising in their FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers encounter.
Korea squandered a 19-point lead before fending off China, 80-76 in the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers on Friday, November 28.
Lee Hyungjung fired nine three-pointers on his way to 33 points he spiked with 14 rebounds, and two steals.
An Youngjun and Lee Junghyun added 13 points apiece for the Koreans, who were up 77-58 with a little over four minutes left to play.
The home team refused to fold and trimmed the gap to just three points on Zhang Zhenlin’s trey with 21 seconds to play.
But that’s the closest Team Dragon could get.
Sanning Liao paced China with 17 points, four rebounds, four assists, and two steals.
Zhou Qi added a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds.
Australia survives New Zealand
Australia got off to a winning start after scraping past New Zealand, 84-79 down under.
Davo Hickey hit the dagger of a triple with 34 ticks remaining to spread the lead to four, 82-78 and the Boomers hung tough for the victory.
Jaylin Galloway led Australia with 19 points,three rebounds, two assists, and two steals, while Angus Glover had 17-4-3-1.
Hickey finished with 12 points, five rebounds, and six assists.
Meanwhile, Sam Mennenga put up 19 points and 10 rebounds for the Tall Blacks but those weren’t enough to get them over the hump.
Flynn Cameron added 15 points, three rebounds, seven assists, and two steals.
Japan drubs Chinese Taipei
Japan leaned on a strong first half to drub Chinese Taipei, 90-64.
The Akatsuki Five went off for 45 points while holding its East Asian neighbors to just 22 in the first 20 minutes of action.
The Taiwanese put up some resistance in the second half but there was already no chance of turning things around.
Other games
Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan also prevailed in their respective matches in the qualifiers.
Lebanon escaped Qatar, 75-74, while Jordan and the Saudis drubbed Syria (74-59) and India (75-51), respectively.
—
Like most sportswriters, Jan Ballesteros once dreamed of becoming a professional hooper. But he learned the hard way that it’s not for everyone.
He continues to be involved in the sport he loves, but this time as a member of the PBA Press Corps. Aside from primarily covering the PBA, he is also assigned to cover Gilas Pilipinas.