China lost to Lithuania 66-68 in their second round-robin game of
the Stankovic Continental Champions Cup at the Capital Stadium in
Beijing on Wednesday. Captain Li Nan, center Yao Ming,? and
power forward Du Feng were on the DNP roster.
Starting guard Liu Wei topped China with 14 points. Mo Ke scored 13
with 7 rebounds. Zhu Fangyu contributed 9 points. Yi Jianlian and
Wang Shipeng had 8?apiece.
Martynas Andriukaitis of Lithuania scored the game-high of 17
points with 14 rebounds.
Center Yi Jianlian drilled a jumper for China to open the
scoring but was baited into early foul trouble due to the
aggressive man-to-man defence by the Lithuanian. Substitute center
Tang Zhengdong's performance could hardly show he was the MVP of
the CBA regular season. China led 18-17 after the first
quarter.
At the beginning of the second period, Zhang Yunsong, point
guard of the Beijing Ducks, replaced Liu Wei in an effort to better
control the pace. For the first time, power forward Mo Ke played as
center for the national team. China's zone defense became relaxed
due to a lack of stamina. The Lithuanians had 10 points with China
scoreless in the following several minutes. Lithuania took a
5-point lead at the end of the second quarter, 37-32.
Lithuania extended their lead to finish the third quarter
52-41.
Great performances from bench players Sun Yue, Wang Shipeng and
Wang Bo helped China to rally in the final quarter. The Chinese
successfully tied the score at 66-66 when Zhu Fangyu shot the free
throws in the last minute. But Liu Wei's last-second air ball
ruined China's hope.
The last official game between China and Lithuania was in 2004
when Lithuania routed China 95-75 at the Athens Games.
China's starting lineup:
Liu Wei, Zhang Jinsong, Zhu Fangyu, Mo Ke, Yi Jianlian
Lithuania's starting lineup:
Mindaugas Lukauskis, Giedrius Gustas, Saulius Kuzminskas,
Martynas Andriukaitis
Vaidas Pauliukenas
(China.org.cn by staff reporter Li Xiao, July 27, 2005)
