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Host tops Korea to win men's gold

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China wins men's basketball gold at Asiad

China's Wang Zhizhi (L2) and Zhu Fangyu hug following their victory over South Korea in the men's gold medal basketball game at the 16th Asian Games in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, November 26, 2010. [Photo/Xinhua]

Veteran center Wang Zhizhi blocked a shot and scored on an offensive rebound in the waning seconds as China beat Korea 77-71 to defend its Asian Games basketball title on Friday.

Wang's late-game heroics ended a 3-point barrage by the Koreans, who had closed a 12-point gap in the last four minutes to 74-71 with 30 seconds left.

The one-time NBA Dallas Maverick Wang, who is playing his last Asian Games for China, led his team with 20 points while former Los Angeles Laker Sun Yue scored 14.

"I was actually running out of gas in the last minute. But I told myself not to give up," Wang said. "I'm so happy I made it and help the team win the gold."

Point guard Yang Dong-geun top-scored for Koreans with 17 points, including seven in the fourth period, while Kim Joo-sung had 16.

China started the game shooting hot, taking a 27-21 first quarter lead behind seven points by Wang.

But Korea used a 16-4 run to go 37-31 ahead midway through the second frame before the host charged back to a 43-37 halftime lead.

In the bronze-medal game, Iran beat Japan 74-66 behind the sharpshooting of Hamed Afagh, who scored eight of his 27 points in the fourth quarter.

Iran took a nine-point lead into the final quarter and held off Japan's comeback behind the long-range shooting of forward Afagh, who shot eight for 13 on the night including six of nine behind the arc.

Point guard Mahdi Kamrani scored 10 points for the winner and had five assists and six rebounds in another masterful performance as Iran took revenge for a 57-56 loss to Japan in the group round.

Japan was led by Takumi Ishizaki with 17 points, while Kosuke Takeuchi had 13.