Photo: VCG

The Chinese men's national basketball team defeated Chinese Taipei 100-93 in their Group B clash of the 2027 FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers. The competition was held at the Mall of Asia Arena in the Philippines on Sunday. Despite trailing throughout the third quarter, the Chinese national team turned the game around and secured a hard-fought victory.

At the start of the game, both teams matched each other blow for blow, keeping the score tight. In the first quarter, the Chinese national team's guard, Zhao Jiwei, was consistently on point with his three-point shooting. Meanwhile, forward Li Hongquan brought even more energy and fluidity compared to his previous performances at the World Cup qualifiers. 

Although Chinese Taipei's center, Brandon Gilbeck, turned in a strong performance, the Chinese national team still managed to close out the first quarter with a 27-22 lead.

In the second quarter, the Chinese national team looked more locked in, maintaining a steady lead at the beginning. But the Chinese national team's shooting percentage dropped noticeably. When their opponents picked up the pace on the break, Chinese head coach Guo Shiqiang called a timely timeout to reset tactics and adjust the game plan. 

After the game resumed, Forwards He Xining and Zhu Junlong kept their composure under pressure and knocked down some beautiful three-pointers. Yu Jiahao also had a high free-throw shooting percentage, 5-for-5. But, still, the Chinese national team went into the halftime break trailing by one, with the score at 50-51.

"To be honest, we had a lot of issues on the defensive end that needed to be adjusted. If we didn't make those adjustments, the outcome is going to be disappointing," sports commentator Fu Zhenghao told the Global Times.

Coming out of the halftime break, with Chinese Taipei quickly holding the lead 59-53, the head coach of Chinese national team Guo quickly called a timeout to reset tactics - a move that also disrupted the opponent's pace and momentum. Despite their best efforts to erase the deficit, the Chinese national team seemed to still fail to climb out of the disadvantage. Eventually, Chinese men's national basketball team ended the third quarter 71-77.

Down but determined in the fourth, power forward Li Hongquan fought for position inside and turned the score 89-88. Then Zhao Jiwei stepped back and drained a massive three to even things up at 91-91. With the other team racking up fouls, the Chinese national team stayed patient with tenacity, finally seizing a hard-fought victory 100-93. 

"The final comeback was also owned to the Chinese national team's advantage in stamina and height," sports commentator Fu Zhenghao told the Global Times. "The roster limitations of the Chinese Taipei team left them running on empty in the second half —whether it was offensive miscues or defensive lapses, the Chinese men's basketball team capitalized them to fight back." 

"Although there are tougher games ahead, the Chinese national team's comeback in the fourth quarter made me proud - especially when the opponents showed some disrespectful behavior," Yao Shuowei, an amateur volleyball player and a fan of the Chinese national team, told the Global Times.

The "disrespectful behavior" occurred during the fourth quarter when Justin Lu, small forward of the Chinese Taipei team, ducked under Zhu Junlong's arm as he was preparing to shoot, disrupting his rhythm and causing him to fall.

With the Sunday victory, the Chinese national team has now secured back-to-back wins in the first round of the current World Cup Asian Qualifiers. On February 26, the team defeated Japan 87-70 - a game that also saw them mount a comeback in the second half.

This game against Chinese Taipei was crucial for the Chinese national team. After two consecutive losses to South Korea earlier, this victory has bolstered their confidence in advancing, lifting them to a 2-2 record with 6 points, temporarily placing them third in the group. A loss in this game would have directly put them on the brink of elimination.

Beyond that, this victory carried deep emotional weight to the national team. In 2013, the Chinese men's basketball team suffered a humiliating 18-point loss to Chinese Taipei at the very same arena in the same country. Then in 2023, again in the Philippines, China endured another heavy defeat, falling 75-96 to the Filipino men's national team.