Australia Defeat China in Men's Basketball FinalAustralia, who won fourth place in the Sydney Olympics, defeated Asian champions China 105-93 in Sunday's men's basketball final at the East Asian Games.China had secured the gold medals on Saturday when they beat Japan 86-69 in the semi-finals, as Australia attend the EAG as guest status and are not eligible to win medals. In the third place final, Chinese Taipei upset Japan 87-68 to take the silver medal. China put their giants, Wang Zhizhi, Yao Ming and Menk Batere, known as "Chinese Walking Great Wall", onto the court together in the fourth quarter, but the towering lineup with 2.08-meter averaging height failed to overcome the 80-71 deficit entering the quarter. Leading most of the game, Australia relied on their transiting play to find open shots in the field along with solid defense in the other end of the court. "Australia are more experienced and faster team than China," Chinese head coach Wang Fei said. "We're learning from a better team." China's guard Li Nan scored 25 points, Wang added 13 and Yao Ming had 11 points, eight rebounds and five blocks. Benjamin Melmeth chipped in 19 points and Darryl McDonald delivered 12 assists for Australia. |
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