AMMAN (Jordan) - China used a scorching fourth quarter to finish off Jordan, 84-63, and take home the bronze medal in the FIBA U18 Asia Cup 2024 on Monday.
Challenged by the partisan crowd inside Prince Hamza Hall, the young Team Dragon managed to tune out the noise and went on to negate the home team's brave stand in the third canto through a massive counter-attack in the deciding period.
And that strong closer was more than enough for the East Asian side to land themselves a spot in the podium for the third consecutive time.
Game heroes: Zhang Boyuan and Chen Jiazheng joined hands in leading China as the two finished with 22 points apiece and combined for 8 of the team's 12 triples.
Turning point: The tandem were key in setting up the rout, knocking a triple each - after Wang Hongze's conversion inside - to string together an 8-0 spree to start the fourth toward a 72-58 lead with just a little under 8 minutes left on the clock.
That proved to be the decisive run as China stayed in control afterwards, with the others such as Huan Sinan and Duan Ruiqi coming in with hits of their own.
Stats don't lie: As the final buzzer sounded, the Chinese held the Jordanians to just a measly 5 points in the final frame while they poured 20.
The winning side did lose the battle of the boards, 41-50, but playing a big factor behind the 21-point victory was the way they shared the wealth. They had 21 assists, showing once more why they are one of the tournament's best passing teams.
They said: "Our team today played really like a team - united together. We had good team defense and good team offense. And most importantly, against a strong team like Jordan, we played tougher as a team." - Qu Shaobin, Head Coach, China
"We played really nicely as a team. Especially, we used aggressive defense. We forced Jordan to a lot of turnovers. We wanted to fight hard to get a medal home, to get a win home back to China. We want to bring this victory to all our teammates that have sickness and injuries because they sacrificed a lot for us and for the team. This win is for all my teammates who are fighting injuries." - Zhang Boyuan, Forward, China
"I do believe our guys gave their best. They fought so hard. We let the game slip off our hands in the beginning of the fourth. A lot of mistakes on both ends of the floor cost us a lot. When you're that fatigued, it's hard when [the lead[ becomes like 14, 15 points, it's like a big mountain to climb. But I want to congratulate the guys. I'm so proud of them. So proud of this achievement." - Wesam Al-Sous, Head Coach, Jordan
"We had tough games, close games every game, almost - with Qatar, it went into overtime. The guys gave everything. We let the game slip away when it was a three-point game. But we gave it our all. Hopefully, you'll see us in the World Cup." - Rawhi Kilani, Forward, Jordan
FIBA