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Russia keeps hopes alive |
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IGR KOUDELINE scored 17 points and had five of Russia’s 14
3-pointers Tuesday in a 95-68 victory over China in the second
round of the FIBA World Championships.China (1-4) has
virtually lost any hope of advancing to the quarterfinals. It
needs to win by at least 46 points in its final second-round
against New Zealand today, which is widely considered
impossible.Russia (2-3) kept alive its hopes of advancing by
staying outside against China and 2.26-meter Yao Ming. Russia
plays Germany Wednesday in its final second-round game, and
even a victory in that game doesn’t guarantee it would move on
because of potential tiebreakers.“Our players did good
defending work today,” Chinese coach Wang Fei said. “we once
stopped their 3-pointers.“We lost the game because we had bad
attacks. We had chances to fight back, but we failed to score
and shorten the distance on points.”“Only Bateer is strong
enough to stand against those European players. That’s why he
always leads our team.” added Wang.Menk Bateer led China with
18 points and Yao, the NBA’s overall No. 1 draft pick by the
Houston Rockets, finished with 13, six in the last quarter
when Russia’s lead was never less than 18 points.Russia
finished 14-for-31 from 3-point range — well above its
8-for-25 average over the first four games, numbers it reached
by the end of the third quarter.Vassili Karassev had 21 points
for Russia and Nikita Morgunov had 18, including going 4-for-5
on 3-pointers. Koudeline finished 5-for-10 from long
range.Russia, which scored the game’s first seven points and
opened a 21-5 lead, was able to win despite serious foul
trouble. (SD-Agencies)
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