China clinch first place after Jordan fade in second half

CHANGSHA-HUNAN (2015 FIBA Asia Championship) - China wrapped up first place in Group C with an 84-67 victory over Jordan.

Twenty-four hours after their come-from-behind triumph over Korea, the Chinese broke open a tight game late in the first half and stormed to the win.

Yi Jianlian, who had 26 points and 14 rebounds, turned on the style with his best performance for China so far at the tournament while Zaid Abbas finished with 22 points in defeat.

Turning point: Leading 35-34 with 2:34 to go, Liu Wei and Zhou Qi hit jump shots to give China a five-point advantage at the break. The Far East giants then took a 53-34 stranglehold on the contest after shutting out Jordan the first 4:29 of the third quarter.  

Stats Don't Lie: China had a combined 42 points from players who came off the bench compared to just 25 for Jordan, showing how much more depth Gong Luming has at his disposal than his counterpart, Rajko Toroman.

Game Hero: Yi Jianlian, whose team was 29 points better than Jordan when he was on the court.

The Bottom Line: China completed a 3-0 sweep of Group C to take first place, a real confidence-booster for a team that has young and emerging talent while Jordan, whose Zaid Abbas picked up his fourth foul early in the third quarter, at least have the consolation of knowing that they played extremely hard and kept the game tight for 20 minutes.

FIBA