Olmypics: Australia down China in basketball

LONDON: Patrick Mills scored 20 points as Australia boosted their hopes of reaching the playoffs by defeating China 81-61 in the men’s basketball tournament.

David Andersen added 17 points and Joe Ingles had 11 for the Australians, who improved to 1-2 in preliminary Group B while China fell to 0-3 and will need help from other teams in order to reach the medal playoffs.

Wang Shipeng led China with 21 points while NBA standout Yi Jianlian added 13 in a losing cause. China trimmed the Boomers’ lead to 61-52 entering the fourth quarter, nine points in the quarter from Wang boosting Chinese hopes. But they went scoreless for more than five minutes to start the final period while the Aussies went on a 14-3 run that sealed victory.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 3^rd, 2012.