Yi Jianlian powers China to Stankovic Cup final

China won its third game in a row at the Stankovic Cup by defeating Russia 73-67 on Sunday, securing their berth in the final of the tournament.

Trailed by 7 points after the first quarter, Yi Jianlian inspired a 12-0 surge to open the second quarter for the host to grab the lead. The power forward from Dallas Mavericks of NBA led China with 28 points and 17 rebounds.

Another former NBA player Wang Zhizhi, who was celebrating his 35th birthday on Sunday, added 8 points and 4 rebounds for China.

Russia tried to overturn the momentum in the second half but too many fouls cost their game.

“Our centers have made too many fouls and this limited their movement in the paint.” said Russia coach.

Ivan Strebkov and Sergey Toropov scored double-digit with 13 and 11 points respectively while Vladimir Ivlev and Denis Polokhin were fouled out after committing 5 personal fouls.

China head oach Bob Donewald Jr. is satisfied with his team’s ferformance.

“Russia did very well in defense but we started to perform better in the second half.”

In an earlier game, Tunisia defeated Australia 62-60 for their first win at Guangzhou.

China will play Australia in the final on Tuesday.

via Yi powers China to Stankovic Cup final – China.org.cn.