China out of basketball semifinals race after Australian win

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Australia booked its place at the FIBA Asia Cup semifinals in Lebanon on Thursday with a 97-71 win over defending champions China.

China had never beaten the Boomers in an official FIBA tournament game prior to tip off, suffering defeat by over 20 points on each occasion.

President of the Chinese Basketball Association, Yao Ming watches on as the former NBA star seeks to put his plan into action by splitting the national team in two; China Blue team and China Red team. The aim is to find the best players and coaches from a wider pool with hopes to lead the team to a successful tournament in 2019 and seal a direct passage to the Tokyo Olympic Games the following year.

Here it was the turn of the Blue China team who trailed by 3 points after the first half. In the second, the Australians tightened the screw defensively to allow just 29 points.

"The Australian team is a very strong team. In the second half, they strengthened their attack and our young defenders were put under a lot of pressure and they made a lot of mistakes. They got nervous afterward and it went into a downward spiral," Chinese coach Du Feng said after the game.

Australia advance to the FIBA Asia Cup semifinals in Lebanon after the win over defending Champions China 91-77. /Osports Photo

Xinjiang forward Li Gen bagged 19 points for China, but turnovers spread like a virus in the Chinese team.

A 14-0 run over the final four minutes of the third period, led by Mitchell McCarron, helped the Aussies create a sixteen point lead going into the last quarter where they would cruise to a win with a 26-point gap.

"This game makes us see clearly the gap between us and the Australian team. Although we had a pretty good opening, under the continuous pressure from the opponent, we were unable to maintain our lead," Li remarked following the defeat.

This was the biggest defeat for China in a continental tournament, but for the Aussies, it now means a chance of Asian glory when they face New Zealand in the semifinals next.

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