JEDDAH (Saudi Arabia) – China needed to withstand a major scare by Saudi Arabia before coming away with the 93-88 victory in their FIBA Asia Cup 2025 debut, Tuesday night at the King Abdullah Sports City.
The traditional powerhouse nearly coughed up a lead as big as 15 points when the hosts got to within just 90-85 behind Mohammed Almarwani with 1:42 to go, but luck ultimately proved to be on their side.
Lead big man Hu Jinqiu split his shots from the free throw line, before Zhao Rui banked in an off-balanced shot following a nifty drive to the cup to push their lead to eight, 93-85, with only 41.7 seconds remaining.
Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman managed to cut the deficit to five again with a three moments later, but that proved to be their final stand as Almarwani’s attempt from outside with 14 ticks left hit nothing but air.
Team Dragon simply dribbled out the clock afterward, and eventually heaved a sigh of relief as the competition’s only 16-time titlists were able to pass their first test of the freshly-opened continental conclave.
Hu top-scored for China with 20 points and 5 rebounds while Zhao tallied 19 points, 4 rebounds, and 6 assists.
Harold Yu came through with 15 points and 7 rebounds. Cheng Shuaipeng supplied 13 points along with a pair of steals while Wang Junjie chipped in 10 points as five players finished in double figures in the win.
*This article will be updated.