China hit by controversial loss to Puerto Rico

Asian champion China fought till the end after star center Yao Ming was ejected in the fourth quarter, but could not escape from a controversial 90-87 defeat to Puerto Rico in overtime here on Tuesday.

Having lost all their first three preliminary matches in Group D, China is on the verge of elimination from the medal round of the 2006 World Men's Basketball Championship.

The Chinese will play Senegal and Slovenia in the last matches and they have to win both to keep alive their hope of advancing to the top 16 at the 24-team competition.

Yao Ming had 29 points, eight rebounds and two blocks to give China a 71-69 lead before receiving his fifth personal foul with four minutes and 40 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.

Du Feng made a three-pointer two minutes and a half later to give China a 76-74 lead, but Antonio Latimer had a lay-up 23 seconds from the end of the regular time to force the overtime, where Elias Ayuso scored eight of his 27 points to lift Puerto Rico to its second victory in three tries.

"Ask me not, ask the officials," Yao told reporters in the mixed zone before walking straight to the team bus.

"I have nothing to say because we were playing five against eight (referring to three officials)," he said earlier.

China's former NBA player Wang Zhizhi and Du Feng also fouled out, in the fourth quarter and over-time respectively, and so did Daniel Santiago of Puerto Rico.

Santiago, who scored eight points early in the fourth when Yao was rested for refreshment to help Puerto Rico pull within 68-66 with a 10-1 run, admitted China would have a much better chance to clinch the victory if Yao was not ejected.

"It's very, very, very possible," he said. "Yao is a great player, very difficult to guard. Even when you do play great defense, sometimes he still makes it. With Yao, the possibilities (for China to win) are much better."

Santiago could feel what Yao was feeling about his frustrating ejection.

"I felt for Yao, because I have the same problem," he said. "It's very difficult for the referees because there are not many big guys like Yao and me. If Yao moves and the guy falls down, sometimes the referee calls a foul, because it looks like he is too strong and he pushes him."

"Hopefully people can work on and hopefully will get better because it's not only the problem for Yao, but also for me."

China head coach Jonas Kazlauskas was obvious disappointed following his side's third straight losses.

"We gave up big advantages in short periods, so we could not compete with the best teams in the world," he said.

The Chinese started well in the Group D clash, racing to a 9-0 lead in the first quarter. Puerto Rico answered with a 10-0 burst, but China surged ahead again with a 15-4 run capped by two three pointers in a row of Wang Zhizhi.

Trailing 24-16 after the first period, Puerto Rico came back strongly in the second, steadily erasing its deficit on back of outside offense led by Carlos Arroyo and overtook the lead 39-38 at the half time.

China rebuilt a 64-54 lead on back of a 19-3 burst connecting the third and fourth quarter, but faded again.

Arroyo finished with 25 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds for Puerto Rico, who was on a 2-1 record, with Santiago Daniel adding 14.

Source: Xinhua