China continues ACQ surge with clobbering of Chinese Taipei

Wu Lenbo was among three Chinese players who top-scored for their team. FIBA/Paul Ryan Tan

By Ivan Saldajeno

MANILA--China made a huge statement in the third window of the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers after mauling neighboring nation Chinese Taipei, 115-66, on Thursday night at the Angeles University Foundation Sports and Cultural Center.

The Chinese squad sizzled in the first half, outscoring its Taiwanese counterpart, 67-32, and cruised to the wire-to-wire win after leading by as much as 53 points.

Wu Qian, Liu Chuanxing, and Lu Wenbo shared the bulk of China's scoring load, each chipping in 16 points in the blowout win that put the team to 2-0 in Group B standings.

Hsieh Ya-Hsuan fired 25 points on 9-of-11 shooting and seven triples, one assist, and two steals for Chinese Taipei, which fell to 1-2.

Box Scores:

China 115-Wu 16, Liu 16, Lu 16, Zhao 13, Hu 12, Wang 12, Xu 8, Zhang 8, Zhou 6, Shen 4, Ren 2, Zhao 2

Chinese Taipei 66-Hsieh 25, Li 11, Ku 8, Lu 6, Gadiaga 5, Morrison 4, Su 3, C. Wu 2, S. Wu 2, Lin 0, Lan 0

Quarterscores: 37-16, 67-32, 91-47, 115-66

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