China record first win in Stankovic Cup basketball

Guangzhou (China): China recorded their first win in Stankovic Continental Champions Cup basketball tournament beating Nigeria 58-52 here.

Despite their first victory in the basketball tournament Friday, China`s Greek coach Yannakis was not satisfied with his players` performance. "We made a couple of mistakes in the first half and lost many rebounds. Although we came back in the second half, we still couldn`t concentrate on the game 100 percent," said Yannakis. Nigerian centre Oyedeji, who previously played for several teams in the Chinese league, led an 8-0 run for Nigeria in the first half as the African team went up 33-27 at the break. China strengthened their defence in the third quarter as Yi Jianlian scored a game-high 16 points to help the Asians reverse the game eventually. "We are a very young team and failed to execute coach`s tactics well in the second half," said Oyedeji. IANS