China loses to Germany, misses Stankovic Cup final

SHENZHEN, China, July 21 (Xinhua) -- Team Red of the Chinese men's basketball national team lost to Germany 73-76 here on Friday at the Stankovic Continental Cup 2017, failing to make into Sunday's final.

With 17 seconds to the end of the match, Mend Duo missed the free-throw to tie the score. The host team had no choice but to send their opponent to the free-throw line. Ismet Akpinar made in both and helped Germnay leading at 75-72. Zhao Jiwei then caused the German a foul but the Chinese guard missed the second. Johannes, who led Germnay with 17 points, then also missed his second free-throw attempt, which gave the Chinese team a chance to force a timeout. But Fang Shuo's three-pointer attempt just went wild.

China, who trailed by 10 after the first quarter, outscored Germany 16-10 in the second period and 24-16 in the third, to headed into the final quarter with a lead of four. But Akpinar scored nine of his team-high 17 in that quarter, leading the German team to the victory and also a ticket to the final.

Wang Zhelin led China with a double-double of 18 points and 10 rebounds. Meng Duo added 17, which all came in the second half.

Germany will play against Croatia on Sunday, who beat Egypt 92-64 earlier today. The two teams had a clash on Thursday, in which the Croatian won at 83-77. China will only play against the winless Egypt for the third place of the tournament.