Players of China celebrate after the pool round of men's 3X3 basketball match between China and Poland in Tokyo, Japan, July 26, 2021. (Xinhua/Zhang Xiaoyu)
TOKYO, July 26 (Xinhua) -- China edged Belgium 21-20 and Poland 21-19 consecutively to snap a four-game skid in the 3x3 men's basketball tournament at Tokyo 2020 on Monday.
Facing Belgium, China trailed 6-0 at the beginning but then fought back to cut the deficit to 9-8 with Hu Jinqiu's four points, and two 2-pointers from Li Haonan and Yan Peng. Belgium widened the gap to 13-10 but China pulled back again to even the scores at 13-13.
China used a 5-1 run to get the upper hand 18-14, before Belgium clawed back to tie again at 20-20. After Belgium's seventh team foul, Hu took the chance of converting a game-winning free throw to finish the match.
Hu led China with nine points and nine rebounds, and Li made six points. Thibaut Vervoort scored a game-high 10 points for Belgium and Nick Celis finished with seven.
"This was a tough one," Belgium's Rafael Bogaerts said after the game. "We had trouble with their big guys and [rebounding] on the boards."
In a hard-fought victory over Poland, China trailed for most of the game. However, every time Poland tried to fly high, China tried everything to keep their opponents on the ground.
With solid defense, fast breaks and six 2-pointers, Poland built up a 19-15 lead before China used a 6-0 run to nail down the victory 21-19 with Yan's game-winning 2-pointer.
Hu scored a game-high 12 points with 10 rebounds for China and Yan added five points. Pawel Pawlowski led Poland with seven points.
"The energy has been going up and up. Tomorrow is our last game and we hope to continue the energy and we look forward to it," said Yan. "Because of COVID-19, we were unable to go to other countries to play against other strong teams. As this tournament continues, we are getting stronger and there is much to build on."
With a 2-4 win-loss record, China face hosts Japan on Tuesday in their last match in the pool round. Enditem
Yan Peng (L, front) of China celebrates with Gao Shiyan after the pool round of men's 3X3 basketball match between China and Poland in Tokyo, Japan, July 26, 2021. (Xinhua/Zhang Xiaoyu)
China's Hu Jinqiu (R) celebrates with Yan Peng after the pool round of men's 3X3 basketball match between China and Poland in Tokyo, Japan, July 26, 2021. (Xinhua/Zhang Xiaoyu)
Hu Jinqiu (L) of China competes during the pool round of men's 3X3 basketball match between China and Poland in Tokyo, Japan, July 26, 2021. (Xinhua/Zhang Xiaoyu)