ALLAN THE MAN

Chinese Taipei rallied from a big first-half deficit to defeat China, 96-78, in the quarterfinals of the FIBA Asia Championship on Friday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

It was the first victory ever in the Cross-Strait matchup for Chinese Taipei in the Asian basketball championship.

And it came at the biggest juncture of the this year’s tournament, as the Taiwanese booked a spot in the final four while eliminating their mainland rivals.

The result left the young Chinese team out of contention for next year’s Basketball World Cup in Spain in a disappointing result. China, the region’s traditional basketball superpower with 15 titles, will not be in the medal rounds for the first time since 2007, when it sent a developmental team to the competition.

The defending champion looked well on its way to victory when it opened up a 17-point lead, 41-24, midway through the second period.

Chinese Taipei battled back, scoring the final five points of the first half, including a buzzer-beating three-pointer by Hung Chih-Shan from just inside halfcourt to cut the deficit to just 10 points, 50-40.

The Taiwanese caught fire in the third period, scoring 10 straight points to tie the game. Tien Lei’s three-pointer gave Chinese Taipei the lead, 53-52, that they kept for the rest of the match.

In the third quarter, Chinese Taipei outscored China, 32-13.

Naturalized center Quincy Davis provided the inside muscle for Chinese Taipei, scoring 26 points on 12-of-13 shooting along with 10 rebounds. Tsai Wen-Cheng, who started in place of Lin Chih-Chieh, added 21 points in his best game of the tournament.

The Taiwanese shot a blistering 50 percent from beyond the arc (10-of-20), while the Chinese faltered, managing just 29 percent (7-of-24).

Former NBA player Yi Jianlian, who missed four games earlier in the tournament while nursing an injury, led China with 20 points and seven rebounds.

With the win, Chinese Taipei moves into the semifinals where it faces another powerhouse, two-time Asian champion Iran.

The loss caps a disappointing campaign for China, which has showed inconsistent form throughout the tournament, earlier falling to South Korea and Iran in the first round. China has been relegated to the classification pool, where it can finish no better than fifth.

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