Hamburg, Germany, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese men's basketball team defeated New Zealand 69-68 in the third-place battle for the German Super Cup on the 13th, when it was behind for almost the entire game.
China's Li Kaier (left) high-fives teammate Hu Jinqiu during a match on August 13. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Ren Pengfei
Li Kyle came off the bench to score a game-high 18 points, five rebounds and four steals. He made the winning steal in the final moments of the game, when China was leading by one point, and helped the team win narrowly. Zhou Qi and Hu Jinqiu contributed 15 and 10 points, respectively.
The starting lineup of the Chinese team for this campaign is Zhao Jiwei, Zhou Peng, Zhou Qi, Cui Yongxi and Zhang Zhenlin. In the opening period, the two sides were evenly matched, the score alternately rose, Zhou Peng and Zhao Jiwei hit three-pointers, and New Zealand made consecutive free throws to play a 7-0 offensive to establish the lead. At the end of the first quarter, the Chinese men's basketball team trailed 16:22.
Chinese player Zhao Jiwei (right) communicates with teammate Cui Yongxi during a match on August 13. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Ren Pengfei
Fu Hao and Hu Jinqiu combined to lead the team to a 10-0 offensive rally at the beginning of the second quarter, but after that, the Chinese team had problems such as fast attack errors and offensive fouls. New Zealand blossomed inside and outside to regain the lead, with China trailing by eight points at halftime.
In the second half, Li Kyle was on fire and scored the team's first eight points in the third quarter. New Zealand then hit back-to-back three-pointers to stretch the gap to double digits. The Chinese team strengthened its defense, constantly forced the opponent to foul on the offensive end, Zhou Qi "played three points" to boost morale, and the Chinese team trailed 50:54 after the third quarter.
In the final quarter, Li Kyle carried the offensive banner and led the team to bite the score. At the end of the game, Zhou Qi and Zhang Zhenlin scored one after another, and the Chinese team won 69:68. With 9.9 seconds left in the end, Li Kyle made a steal to seal the victory for the Chinese team and finished third in this Super Cup.
China's Li Kaier (right) attacks during a match on August 13. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Ren Pengfei
'I used my height and arm length, especially defensively, to help the team finish the game.' Speaking about the key tackle, Lee Kyle said after the game.
Despite the victory, the Chinese team exposed some problems in the game, shooting just 4 of 14 three-pointers and 17 of 27 free throws.
Fu Hao said in an interview after the game: "Thank you Qiao Shuai (Jordjevic) for his trust and help to me, which has given me a lot of strength. Without him, I wouldn't have had the chance to play for the national team. In some of the previous warm-up games, sometimes I didn't play much, but he never gave up on me. Having stayed in the team after a few selections is an encouragement to me and I will do my best to repay that trust. ”
On August 13, Chinese head coach Jordjevic (third from left) guided players between matches. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Ren Pengfei
"In the current squad system, I want to give the team some help both offensively and defensively in the roster rotation. If I end up in the World Cup squad, I will cherish this opportunity. Fu Hao said.
In this Super Cup title, Canada narrowly defeated the host Germany 113-112 in extra time.