Puerto Rico earns first win at worlds
August 31, 2010
ANKARA, Turkey (AP)—Puerto Rico earned its first win at the basketballworld championship by beating China 84-76 Tuesday, using its strong transitiongame to overcome China’s big men.
Angelo Vassalo scored 22 points and Denver Nuggets forward Renaldo Balkman(notes)had 10 points and 13 rebounds for Puerto Rico. Nathan Peavy and Jose Barea added13 points each as Puerto Rico (1-2) bounced back from losses to Greece andRussia in Group C games over the weekend.
China (1-2) relied heavily on 7-footers Yi Jianlian(notes) and Wang Zhizhi to stayin the game, as the duo scored 20 of the team’s 21 first-quarter points. PuertoRico countered with fast breaks, repeatedly beating their opponents intransition to take a 44-37 halftime lead.
Yi finished with 24 points, while Wang had 17.
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