2013 FIBA Asia Championship: China fends off late collapse, Kazakhstan

(Updated 8:03pm) China emerged triumphant despite a late rally by Kazakhstan, with the former forging a 73-67 win, Monday at the MOA Arena, in the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship's second round.

The victory allowed China to improve to 1-2 in Group F, while Kazakhstan took a step back to 2-1.

After trailing by 12 points at the half, 42-30, a furious Kazakhstan rally made it a four-point affair with a quarter left, 50-46.  Then in the fourth, Mikhail Yevstigneyev carried the offense for Kazakhstan and even gave his team a 63-62 lead with 3:12 left in the game.

However, Wang Zhizhi and Zhou Peng made crucial baskets down the stretch to erect and maintain a two-possession lead for China the rest of the way, preserving their win.

“We are still struggling as a team,” said Zhou after the match. “But we will show everyone in our nation we will get better.”

Zhou scored 17 points in the game, 12 of those coming in down the stretch. Wang Zhizhi added 14 points while Zhu Fangyu notched 15 though most of those came in the first half.

“China deserved to win,” said Kazakhstan head coach Matteo Boniciolli. “They were more focused than us in the last two minutes.”

Two Leonid Bondarovich baskets sandwiched a baseline jumper from Wang Zhelin for an early 4-2 lead for Kazakhstan.

At the 8:27 mark of the first quarter, Chinese point guard Liu Xiaoyu was carried off the court by his teammates after taking a hard fall. Liu had driven to the basket and was fouled by Bondarovich. The point guard’s legs were taken out from under him by the bump, which cased him to land brutally on his back.

Wang Shipeng and Zhu Fangyu then sank baskets for China to get a 10-4 lead.

China first built a double-digit buffer at 17-7, but a triple from Vitaliy Lapchenko at the 3:31 mark brought it down to single digits again.

The Chinese went on a 7-0 run before Bondarovich scored again for Kazakhstan, to settle the score at 24-12 at the end of the first quarter.

Wang Zhizhi scored the first two baskets of the second period to give China a mighty 28-12 lead.

Kazakhstan got back-to-back triples from Rustam Murzagaliyev and Dmitriy Klimov to get within single digits anew, 30-22 with 4:54 left in the second quarter. After forcing a turnover, Kazakhstan inched closer with two free throws from Mikhail Yevstigneyev and a basket from Yargaliyev, as China's lead dropped to just four points.

Sun Yue ended the Kazakh uprising with a triple at the 3:28 mark of the second quarter for a 33-26 count. Then, Zhu Fangyu heated up from beyond the arc with less than two minutes remaining in the first half. He sank back-to-back three's to build a 12-point lead for China at 39-27, then nailed another just before the break to give China a 42-30 advantage heading into the third quarter.

Zhu led all scorers at the half with 13 points. Wang Zhizhi and Zou Peng combined for 13 to back him up.

Kazakhstan on the other hand relied on a balanced attack with no player scoring over six points.

China had a 17-13 advantage in rebounds. They also committed less turnovers with six, compared to nine for Kazakhstan in the first 20 minutes of action.

Baskets came few and far between in the third quarter’s first five minutes, Kazakhstan only managed to score four points while China came up with three for a 45-34 count.

Kazakhstan then scored six straight in the shaded area, the last of which was a Jerri Jonson layup, to cut the Chinese lead down to five at 45-40 with 3:10 left in the third. Jonson then ended the quarter with a floater down the lane for a 50-46 count, still in favor of China.

Zhou Peng started the fourth quarter by hitting a baseline jumper. Yargaliyev then sank a triple for Kazakhstan but it was quickly matched by a long-range make from Wang Shipeng for a 55-49 count, China still up. Wang Shipeng then converted on a four-point play to give China a double-digit advantage.

Klimov and Yargaliyev scored back-to-back baskets to keep Kazakhstan in the game. They trimmed their deficit down to six points at 61-55 with still 6:36 left in the game.

Four free throws from Yevstigneyev cut the Chinese lead further down to three at 62-59. A follow-up from Jonson on the break got Kazakhstan to within a point with still 4:38 left in the game.

Yevstigneyev again stepped to the free throw line to grab a 63-62 lead for Kazakhstan. However, Zhou scored on a runner to reclaim the lead for China at 64-63. On their next possession, Zhou was left wide open to sink a triple for a four-point China advantage.

Johnson was fouled at the 2:06 and he made two free throws to pull Kazakhstan within two.

Wang Zhizhi scored on a put-back to re-establish a four-point China lead. Kazakhstan had multiple shots at the basket, but their three-point attempts refused to drop in. Sun was then fouled on the rebound play and he made two free throws.

Jonson found Yevstigneyev open down low to slice the Chinese lead down to four points at 71-67. Kazakhstan then had a chance to pull closer but Jonson’s three-point attempt rimmed out. Zhou followed that by putting the game away for a China, via a put-back. - AMD, GMA News


The scores:

China 73 – Zhou 17, Zhu 15, Wang Zhizhi 12, Wang Shipeng 9, Sun 6, Chen 4, Wang Zhelin 4, Li 3, Guo 2, Zhang 1, Liu 0

Kazakhstan 67 – Jonson 13, Yevstigneyev 11, Lapchenko 9, Yargaliyev 9, Klimov 7, Murzagaliyev 6,  Ponomarev 6, Bondarovic 6, Sultanov 0, Bazkhin 0, Dvirnyy 0, Zhigulin 0

Quarter scoring: 24-12, 42-30, 50-46, 73-67