China have made a valiant come back to keep their campaign alive at the ongoing FIBA U19 World Cup in Heraklion in Greece.

The Chinese cagers faced a strong Puerto Rico side in their third game of the tournament after back to back losses in the opening two matches.

The Asian side, however, clinched a hard-fought 99-94 win on Tuesday to bring their quarterfinals hopes on track after two morale-crushing defeats against Serbia and France respectively.

The star of China's gritty display against the island nation was Guo Haowen, who helped his side in getting the job done in a game that went down to the wire at the Heraklion University Sports Hall.

Earlier, China were leading 44-39 after the first half. The Puerto Ricans fought back strongly in the third quarter as they clawed their way back into the game by taking a 72-70 lead while going into the fourth.

But with consistent scoring from an exceptionally talented Guo and Xu Ke, the Chinese boys went on to win the cliffhanger of a contest.

The hero of the game was Guo, who scored 34 points with 11 rebounds and 11 assists to become the first Chinese, and third in the tournament's history to record a triple-double.

China will next meet Russia for a place in the quarterfinals in the 16-team tournament.