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The second day of the Stankovic Continental Champions Cup was over. China had the first defeat of the cup game, Argentina and Lithuanian are the two team that have won both games. (Agencies)
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Yi made the first two shots to helped China went ahead 4-0, but Lithuanian's inside play was just good, without Yao, it was hard for China to defend in the paint.
Lithuanian went up 9-8 when there was 6:12 left in the first quarter. Then China began to turn the balls over, Lithuanian extended their lead to 3. A steal and a fast break helped China to take the lead 12-11.
Then a fastbreak dunk from Mo Ke inspired China, Lithuanian called a timeout. After the timeout, Lithuanian took the lead 15-14. Lithuanian's break created many outside chances. Liu Wei's assist and Wang Shipeng's cut helped China to compete with Lithuanian. In the final second of the first quarter, Lithuanian missed two free throws and China led in the first quarter 18-17.
In the second quarter, neither team scored in the first 2 minutes. China's inside play helped them to go up 20-19. Lithuanian once took the lead, but Mo Ke's three pointer helped China to tie the game. Mo Ke's following dunk perhaps was the best play in the game.
Lithuanian used their height advantage to control the paint and extended their lead to 7. China finally ended the first half 32-37.
In the second half, Lithuanian extended their lead to 9 points. Yi made China's first second half goal when there was 7:15 left in the third quarter and Liu's 3-points play cut the deficit to 4. Zhu made a jumper and the score was 39-41. When Lithuanian extended their lead to 6, China called a timeout.
After the timeout, Lithuanian extended their advantage to 12 points. Zhu Fangyu made one of two free throws and China ended the third quarter 41-52.
In the fourth quarter, both teams found their offenserhythms. Lithuanian continued to extend their advantage; China played faster and drew some fouls. Liu Wei made a 3-pointer play and cut thedeficitwithin 10 point. When there was 3:27 left in the fourth quarter, Wang Bo made two free throws to cut the deficit to 8. Sun Yue's steal helped Liu Wei drew a foul, Liu made two free throws and China was down by 6. When China cut the deficit to 4, Lithuanian called a timeout.
After the timeout, Wang Shipeng's 3 points play help China to cut the deficit to 3 when there was 1:43 left in the fourth quarter. Lithuanian made an airball and China took the turn to attack.
When Wang Shipeng drew a foul and made one of two free throws, China was only down by 2. Zhu got the chance for two free throws and made both of them. Lithuanian's Andriukaitis made two of two free throws, China was down by 2. There is only 5 minutes left, After Liu Wei missed the final shot, China lost the game 66-68.
(Agencies)
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Updated: 2005-07-28 09:24
