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China Suffers Second Loss in Diamond Ball Basketball
China failed to convert its halftime lead into victory as they lost to Canada 86-73 in the Diamond Ball 2000 Men's basketball tournament, a warmup competition for the Sydney Olympics.
Guard Steve Nash, who plays for the Dallas Mavericks of the NBA, dished out 20 points in the second half to lift Canada to a hard-fought victory.
China came out aggressive as forward Zhang Jinsong poured in 16 points to give the Chinese the lead at the break.
But Canada turned the tables in the second half as Nash scored almost at will on drives to the basket and from behind the three-point line.
Nash finished with 26 points for Canada while Rowan Barrett scored 21 and Philadelphia 76er Todd MacCulloch added 12.
Forward Li Nan scored 17 points for China while Zhang finished with 16 and center Wang Zhizhi added 12.
In the same day the African champions Angola failed to pose real danger to Australia who scored an overwhelming 95-53 win.
Six of the 12 teams who will play in the Sydney Olympics are taking part in the tournament here. Yugoslavia (1-0), Canada (1-0) and China (0-2) are in Group A while Australia (1-0), Italy (1-0) and Angola (0-2) are in Group B. The winners of the two groups will clash Wednesday in the final.
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