Ailun Guo had a dominant individual performance to lead China past Qatar 92-67 at the 2017 FIBA Asia Cup basketball tournament yesterday.
Guo knocked down five three-pointers on his way to 30 points, adding 4 rebounds and 4 assists, as China picked up their first win after an opening defeat to the Philippines.
It was not until the second half the Chinese pulled away for good, momentarily falling behind midway in the second quarter before regrouping. Abdulrahman Saad and Ali Saeed Erfan were the high men for Qatar with 19 and 18 points, respectively. Qatar continue to look for their first win in Group A at the FIBA Asia Cup 2017.
It's clear that Guo is the most important player in this Chinese quintet, and no less than head coach Du Feng knows that to be true. There are still a lot of things China must do better to defeat some of the elite teams in this competition, but as long as Guo is productive, they should be in a position to win every contest.
Philippines recovered from a slow first half to defeat Iraq 84-68 with a dominant third period. A 26-7 third quarter run, whilst limiting Kevin Galloway’s effectiveness, saw Philippines get the cushion they need to stay perfect atop of Group B at 2-0. Christian Karl Standhardinger had 16 points and 7 rebounds for the Philippines, whilst Terrence Romeo added 17 points and 4 assists.
Galloway did his best efforts to keep Iraq in it, finishing with 23 points (15 in the first half), 14 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks, but it would not be enough.
Meanwhile, Jordan improved to 2-0 with a 61-54 victory over a much-improved India side. After a mauling at the hands of Iran in their opener, India bounced back and managed to hang with Jordan the entirety of the game, though ultimately were plagued by turnovers, as Jordan registered 12 steals on the game. Alawadi had 22 on 9 of 17 shooting and Ahmad Alhamarsheh had 13 rebounds to go with his 8 points for Jordan. India were led by 17 points from Amjyot Singh Gill and Aravind Annadurai’s 6 points.
New Zealand made a statement with a 86-82 win over hosts Lebanon, in what was one of the games of the tournament so far. Fadi El Khatib’s near triple double would not be enough for Lebanon; he was unstoppable with 33 points, 11 rebounds and 8 assists, as very little would separate the two sides throughout the majority of contest.
Illi led New Zealand’s charge with 22 points, whilst Te Rangi and Smith-Milner added 15 each for the young Tall Blacks squad. New Zealand improve to 2-0 in Group C, with the home side falling to 1-1.
China’s Ailun Guo attempts to score against Qatar during the 2017 FIBA Asia Cup basketball tournament in Beirut yesterday.
