China brush aside Lebanon in FIBA World Cup qualifiers

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Yi Jianlian had 15 points, eight rebounds and three steals to lead four Chinese players in double figures as Team China routed Lebanon 72-52 in the Asian qualifiers of the 2019 FIBA World Cup on Sunday night.

Li Nan's side took a 43-19 lead into halftime and never looked back as they emphatically made amends for their demoralizing loss to their opponents in September.

Guo Ailun added 13 points for China along with five rebounds, with Abudushalamu Abudurexiti and Sun Minghui recording 11 points apiece. Wang Zhelin contributing nine, and Wu Qian five.

Yi Jianlian led China with 15 points, eight rebounds, and three steals during their FIBA World Cup qualifier against Lebanon on December 2. /VCG Photo

Despite a slow start, China led by as many as 24 points in the first half as Yi and Sun combined to dominate the court and put the game out of reach. With Lebanon struggling to cope with the pressure, China opened the third quarter with a 9-2 run to stretch the lead to 54-23.

Though they trailed for most of the night, Lebanon used a rare rally to trim the deficit to 25 points heading into the fourth.

However, taking advantage of Lebanon's turnovers, China maintained a huge lead midway through the final quarter, and Li went to the reserves with the game all but decided.