China loses to South Korea in semifinals of EABA Championship

NAGANO, Japan, June 6 (Xinhua) -- China lost to South Korea in a close semifinal game of the 2017 East Asia Basketball Association (EABA) Championship for Men here on Tuesday.

After a well-matched first quarter with China leading 21-20, South Korea took the upper hand and led China 45-36 with the help of five 3-pointers at half break.

China played aggressively and cut the gap 61-64 in the third quarter, and levelled the score in the fourth quarter 93-93 but lost to South Korea 104-106 after overtime.

Fan Bin, head coach of the Chinese men's Olympic basketball team, said after the game that the results were "acceptable" and he was proud of the performance of his team.

He said that the Chinese players are very young and need more experiences and such games are good opportunities for them to improve themselves.

The EABA Championship for Men 2017 runs till June 7 in Nagano, Japan. Six teams were divided into two groups, with top two from each group advancing to the semifinals.

The top five finishers in the six-team tournament will qualify for the FIBA Asia Cup in Lebanon in August.