China defeated Venezuela 63-57 on Sunday to place third at the annual Belgrade Trophy basketball tournament.
The Chinese national team, which is preparing for Asian Cup in Europe, won the tight match in the last minute as both sides played 14-13, 14-22, 16-10 and 19-12 during the four quarters.
China's head coach Gong Luming said after the match that the victory over Venezuela brought back the confidence to the young players who are worn out by the tight schedule and injuries.
"Venezuela is a very active team. They play with effort and hustle, rebounding, and hard defense. This gave us a good lesson," he explained.
Gong complained that tight schedule is causing injuries among the players and is harming the team's plan for the Asia Cup, but added that players got experience from their opponents.
"As a young team we appreciate and love to have more chances to come to Europe and play with top level teams. We expect that this group of young Chinese players can perform well at the World Cup," Gong said.
Coach of team Venezuela said China was a tough opponent, especially because of their tall defensive players.
"It was a tough game and we played good defense," Nestor said and explained that his players did not work well enough in the offence.
Seven consecutive points of Zhao Qi at the beginning of the match gave China initial advantage but Jose Vargas kept Venezuela in the match during the first quarter that China won.
In the second quarter Venezuela took over the initiative thanks to points of Dwight Lewis threatening to expand the lead, but China returned to the game and reduced Venezuela's lead by the end of third quarter to only one point.
In a tight struggle in the fourth quarter, Zhao Tailong brought China the lead several times, but the final victory was secured by precise free-throws of Ding Yanyuhang and Zhou Qi.
Most efficient in the Chinese team was Zhou Qi who scored 18 points while Zhao Tailong added 12 more.
In the Venezuelan team Lewis played the key role with 14 points, while Jose Vargas scored 11. Gregory Vargas had 9 assists.
In the final, Serbia beat Russia 95-61 (27-12, 12-19, 31-13, 27-19).
