Australia survives China scare in thrilling Asia Cup final to complete 3-peat

MANILA, Philippines, August 18 ------ Australia defended its FIBA Asia Cup throne by the skin of its teeth after a nail-biting 90-89 win over China in the final at the King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Xavier Cooks finished with 30 points and 9 rebounds as the Aussies clawed their way back from a 15-point hole and survived a Chinese scare in the endgame to capture their third straight championship and preserve their perfect Asia Cup record. The Boomers became the first team to win the Asia Cup for at least three consecutive editions since China won four in a row in 1999, 2001, 2003, and 2005.

As brilliant as Cooks — who shot an ultra-efficient 13-of-17 from the field (76%) — played, though, he nearly cost Australia the title after his unsportsmanlike foul on Zhao Rui gave Team Dragon a shot at stealing the win. The victory had looked like in the bag for the Boomers as they held to an 89-87 lead following a missed Lei Meng three-pointer, but Cooks elbowed Zhao in the back of the head when the Chinese fouled him with 3.9 seconds remaining. Cooks split his free throws to push the Aussies’ lead to 90-87 before Zhao sank both of his foul shots to pull China within 89-90, setting the stage for a dramatic finish.

Hu Mingxuan got a good look at the title-winning three-pointer as Cooks bit on his pump fake only to see his shot fall inches short as the Team Dragon missed out on a record-extending 17th Asia Cup crown. Tournament MVP Jaylin Galloway capped his impressive campaign with 23 points built on a 6-of-10 clip from three-point range, knocking down back-to-back triples that gave Australia an 84-82 lead with a little over four minutes left. William Hickey and Jack McVeigh added 15 and 11 points, respectively, in the win that allowed the Boomers to hike their all-time Asia Cup record to 18-0.

Australia won its first five games of the tournament by a staggering average of 29.0 points, including an 84-60 rout of Gilas Pilipinas in the quarterfinals, but found itself in an unfamiliar position as China raced to a 25-17 lead at the end of the opening quarter.

Team Dragon tasted their biggest lead at 36-21 before the Boomers chipped away at their deficit, cutting it to 42-46 at halftime then seizing the upper hand at 51-50. M. Hu fired 26 points to pace China, which redeemed itself from placing fifth in 2017 and eighth in 2022 as it reached the final for the first time since it beat the Philippines in 2015 for its last championship. The Chinese swept Group C that also consisted Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and India, overcame South Korea in the quarterfinals, then stunned New Zealand in the semi-final to earn the right to challenge Australia. Hi Jinqiu, who earned All-Tournament Team honors together with teammate Wang Junjie, put up a double-double of 20 points and 10 rebounds in the loss, while Zhao chimed in 10 points, 6 assists, and 5 rebounds.

Iran completed the podium after a 79-73 win over New Zealand led by Seyed Mahdi Jafari and Sina Vahedi, who delivered 22 and 19 points, respectively.

Source: rappler.com