Finland lose to China 84-87 in Continental Cup

Team Blue of the Chinese men's basketball national team beat Finland 87-84 in overtime at the Stankovic Continental Cup 2018 here on Wednesday.

China started the game with a 5-0 scoring run, with Wu Qian's seven points helping the hosts finish the first quarter leading 25-18.

Wu offensive contribution was spectacular, finishing with 16 points before being sent off in the fourth quarter. Zhou Peng scored a game-high 22 points including 4 of 7 three-pointers. Ren Junfei and Hu Jinqiu also got into double figures.

The visitors played with pressure defense in the second half and had the chance to finish the game in regular time, but Elias Valtonen missed one of his two free-throws with just 4.2 seconds left. After China's Yu Dehao missed a floater at the regulation buzzer, the game entered into overtime.

Just when it seemed a breakthrough would never come, Hu Mingxuan, the 20-year-old point guard from Guangdong, daggered a decisive step back three in the last minute of overtime, helping the hosts snatch a tough win.

"Congratulations to Team Blue, they played smart. We got the opportunity to win, but we missed the free throws, and it hurt us," commented Finland's head coach Henrik Dettman after the game. "Compared with the game against Team Red of China, we played better today. I am sure that China will have a stronger team if they put Team Red and Blue together."

Despite the win, Team Blue head coach Du Feng had his reservations about the overall performance. "It was not a good game for us. Many players are tired today, and some of them have caught a cold. We didn't play well in defense and offense, especially with the defensive rebounds."

"Our young players have made great progress in this summer. Hu Mingxuan made a huge three in overtime and Lu Wenbo played some good defense. He also made two decisive free throws to tie the game," added Du.

Both China's teams are in action tomorrow. Team Red will face Croatia, while Team Blue take on Tunisia.