The Big Sky Conference NCAA Division I Idaho Vandals suffered a heart-breaking 102-94 overtime defeat against the mighty Chinese National Team in its final game of the summer in Suzhou, China.

The American collegiate basketball squad were justifiably gassed after playing their third game in as many nights and eighth game in ten days overall.  The Vandals came out hot in the early periods of the game, taking a 38-35 lead into the half. However, the Asian giants slowly bounced back and dominated the game in the final 20 minutes to even the score and force overtime.

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With the game reset in the extra frame, China took over and contained the Vandals with a 20-12 run to seal the victory.

Idaho's 6-foot-5 guard Victor Sanders had his best game performance of the China trip. The native of Portland, Oregon scored 27 points, shooting 9-of-15 from the field - including 5-of-10 from three - in 32 minutes of action. He also was perfect from the foul line, connecting on all of his 4 free throw attempts and tore down a team-high 6 rebounds.

Forward Arkadiy Mkrtychyan also had an impressive performance.  The former Columbian Christian High School player poured in18 points on 8-of-13 shooting and grabbed 5 boards.  Forwards Jordan Scott and Nate Sherwood both finish the game in double-figures with 13 and 11 points, respectively.

Despite the loss, the Don Verlin-headed college basketball team shot a decent 51 percent overall. They also recorded 30 percent shooting accuracy from three-point range, connecting on 6 treys in 20 attempts. The battle for the boards was tied at 36 apiece, but the Vandals had 12 offensive rebounds to just 9 by China. 

China is set to compete in the upcoming Rio Olympics in August, after claiming the 2015 FIBA Asia Championship against the Philippines last fall.

The Vandals will spend another day in China and will head back to the United States on Saturday.

Tagsidaho vandals, Rio Olympics 2016, chinese men's national basketball team, 2015 FIBA Asia Championship, University of Idaho