China’s national team beat the Charlotte Hornet 84-80 on Monday to celebrate their first victory in the NBA Summer League since their debut 12 years ago. Former Houston Rockets player Zhou Qi got a team-high 17 points as well as 9 rebounds. The victory in Las Vegas followed losses in the first two matches.

The opponents took a 4-0 lead in the early stages and China were able to pick up the action with 2 minutes left in the opening quarter as Fang Shuo set up Zhou who fired in from distance. He scored 3 out of 5 attempts from outside the D on the night. The Chinese took a 6-point lead at the interval and kept in front.

With 4.9 seconds left, the Hornets still have a chance to tie the game. But failure to connect on an alley-oop cost them. China threw the ball in the air to waste time but the referee then halted play for a foul from Josh Perkins giving Hornets more time to get level.

Zhao then makes no mistake adding two more points from a pair of free throws to get Li Nan’s side home. China recovered from losses to Miami and Sacramento and this victory strengthens the FIBA World Cup hosts’ confidence for the tournament in September.

China will play against Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday.