China overcame a late deficit to defeat Chinese Taipei 100-93 on Sunday, March 1, completing a sweep of their Window 2 games in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027 Asian Qualifiers. The win improved Team Dragon to 2-2 in Group B while Chinese Taipei absorbed their third loss in four outings.

Trailing after three quarters, China relied on its veteran players to spark a comeback. Zhao Rui made key free throws for a 95-93 lead with 1:42 left, and Hu Jinqiu iced the game with three free throws in the final 16.8 seconds. Justin Lu of Chinese Taipei missed his game-tying attempts, allowing China to finish the run that secured the win.

Zhu Junlong led China with 19 points, hitting five three-pointers, while Hu finished with 15 points and six rebounds. Zhao Jiwei added 13 points, three rebounds, and three assists before fouling out late. Zhao Rui had 12 points, five rebounds, and five assists, and He Xining contributed 10 points. Young frontcourt players Yu Jiahao and Li Hongquan scored nine points each and combined for 17 rebounds.

Key moments fuel China comeback

Li Hongquan triggered the late rally, scoring two buckets that reduced an 89-82 Chinese Taipei lead to a single point. Zhao Jiwei tied the game at 91-all with a three-pointer from beyond the arc with 2:44 remaining. China then finished with an 18-4 run, demonstrating composure and teamwork down the stretch.

“I told our team that it will go down the wire, and the game has to be played for 40 minutes – both offensively and defensively. I want to thank my team because this was a team win, and we dedicate this to all of the members of Team China,” said Guo Shiqiang, Head Coach of China.

“This window is very difficult for us, and so it means a lot to us to win two games. It actually changes the team’s mentality and I’m sure that it has awakened the whole team. But the job is not done yet because there’s still Window 3 coming up,” added Zhao Jiwei, Guard, China.

Chinese Taipei fights hard but falls short

Despite the loss, Chinese Taipei remained competitive. Head Coach Gianluca Tucci said, “There’s only one word for this game, and that’s ‘proud.’ I’m really proud of my players, my team. We did a great job during the game, unfortunately there were some few episodes in the last quarter that changed the game … We need to consider this as one of our best games despite the result.”

Guard Ray Chen echoed Tucci’s sentiment, saying, “This was a very, very tight game. Ultimately, we fell short. We all tried very hard, we all played until the last whistle, and that’s what the game is always about. We executed our defense as well as we could, we rebounded well, tried to have confidence in our offense, we tried to shoot with certainty, we tried to find open looks … It was good teamwork all around so we have to give credit to the whole team.”

China now returns to contention in Group B while Chinese Taipei looks to regroup for Window 3.