Australia gets winning streak at Stankovic Cup
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Defending champion Australia beat European powerhouse Slovenia 77-63 to get the second straight win at Stankovic Basketball Continental Cup in Liuzhou on Thursday.
Both teams opened their Stankovic Cup campaign with victory on Wednesday. Slovenia beat Iran 107-74, while Australia edged host team China 64-63.
It was a physical game, and defense became the decisive element in the game. Neither side was able to make fluent passes or easy baskets because of the exhausting body contacts.
"Australia played much better basketball than us," said Mehmet Becirovic, head coach of Slovenia. "They were more aggressive, more physical."
Though out-rebounded the Australia, Slovenia missed 9 of their 20 free throws, and they finally lost the game by 6 points.
Four of the Aussies harvested double digits. Adam Gibson made 5 of his 7 three-point attempts, netting a total score of 15. Patrick Mills got 15 points and 3 assists.
Slovenia's Sani Becirovic turned out the top-scorer of the team for a second time with 15 points.
Slovenians ended the first period 17-16, but Australia bounced back to rule the first half 40-34. The defending champion kept extending the lead until 70-54, while their opponent strived to fight back and trim the gap to 7. However, Slovenia missed two key shots before the whistle.
In Thursday's other game, home team China overwhelmed Iran, the rival they lost to in last year's Asian Championships, 86-64 to claim the first victory in this year's Stankovic Cup.
Chinese forward Wang Shipeng netted 3 three-pointers to total a game-high 21 points. NBA star Yi Jianlian got 16 points and 10 rebounds.
The Chinese players were satisfied with their performance, but Iran's head coach Veselin Matic took the defeat in another way.
"This tournament is a preparing tournament," he said. "It's not a tournament in which everyone wants to win."
He was looking forward to the next encounter between the two teams on the Asian Games later this year. "We will see you one more time." He said.
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