After beating South Korea, China is playing either New Zealand or Lebanon in the FIBA Asia Cup 2025 semifinals.
China leaned on a strong second period quarter to overcome South Korea, 79-71, in their FIBA Asia Cup 2025 quarterfinal match at the King Abdullah Sports City, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia Thursday, Aug. 14.
The Chinese are marching on to the Final Four after failing to do so in the 2022 edition of the Asian meet.
Behind Junjie Wang, China unleashed a 21-11 blitz in the second to establish a 46-35 halftime buffer it preserved until the final buzzer.
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Wang ended up with 21 points — 10 of which he made in his squad's pivotal run — and eight rebounds for Team Dragon, who remained spotless in the tournament.
But it was Jinqiu Hu who topscored with 23 points he spiked with 11 rebounds, a steal and a block.
Rui Zhao and Junlong Zhu added nine points apiece as the Chinese booked a trip to the penultimate stage against either New Zealand or Lebanon.
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Meanwhile, Hyunjung Lee paced the Koreans with 22 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two steals.
Lee's jumper with 49 seconds left to play gave his team some ray of hope as they closed in, 71-77.
But there was just little they could do since then as China countered behind Sanning Liao's go-ahead stepback jumper to sealed the win.
Yungi Ha added 15 points, nine rebounds, an assist and two blocks for South Korea.