Fiba Asia: Chinese-Taipei ousts China for a semis seat

ZHU Fangyu of China (dark) vs DAVIS III Quincy and LU Cheng-Ju . Nuki Sabio

MANILA, Philippines — Chinese-Taipei ousted defending champion China via an inspired 96-78 victory, a first in history, on Friday to grab a seat in the semifinals of the 27th FIBA Asia Championships.

Chinese-Taipei alternated its blows from long bombs to explosive slams in a telling second half rally, while China depended on Yi Jianlian’s perimeter buckets.

Quincy Davis and Wen-Cheng Tsai exploded with a combined 47 points for the Taiwanese, while Chih-Chieh Lin, Chih-Shang Hung and Lei Tien together uncorked all but two of their 10 triples.

Chinese-Taipei arranged a meeting with undefeated Iran in the final four, while China tries to salvage fifth place in a consolation battle on Saturday.

Yi had 22 points, 10 of which from the third quarter, but he failed to assert their edge down low, mostly scoring on long jumpers as China just made 26 points in the paint compared to Taipei’s 42.