China Crowned FIBA Asia Champion
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – China's national basketball team defeated the Philippines 78-67 on Saturday to earn the 2015 FIBA Asia Championship title.
The triumph earns the Chinese national team direct qualification into the basketball tournament at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Brazil.
Guo Ailun led all scorers with 19 points for China. Blatche had a team-high 17 for Philippines.
China’s Yi Jianlian was selected as the Most Valuable Player of the tournament.
The 27-year-old had 11 points, 15 rebounds and 2 blocks for China in the final and averaged 16.7 points, 8.8 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.2 blocks per game, while shooting 52.9 percent from the field.
He headlined the All-Star Five, which also included his China team-mates Guo Ailun and Zhou Qi, Jayson Castro of Philippines, and Iran’s Samad Nikkhah Bahrami.
Iran captain Bahrami had a game-high 35 points as the 2013 champion bounced back from their Semi-Final defeat to China to take a 68-63 victory over Japan in the Third-Place Game.
2015 FIBA Asia Championship final standings:
1. China
2. Philippines
3. Iran
4. Japan
5. Lebanon
6. Korea
7. Qatar
8. India
9. Jordan
10. Palestine
11. Kazakhstan
12. Hong Kong
13. Chinese Taipei
14. Kuwait
15. Singapore
16. Malaysia