The Chinese men's national basketball team defeated France with a 75-70 victory in Yixing, China in an international men's basketball friendly on Tuesday ahead of the upcoming 2016 Summer Olympics Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

According to Shanghai Daily, the French basketball team had a 9-2 run in the early minutes of the game, but the Olympic-bound national squad of China bounced back and stormed France with an 18-9 run to end the first quarter leading 20-18 as starting guard Guo Ailun connected a three-pointer from beyond the arc.

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In the second period of the match, France played much more aggressively and staged a 21-14 second quarter outburst to take the lead 39-34 as both teams headed into their respective locker rooms.

In the third period, the hosts outscored their French peers 20-13 to enter the final twelve minutes of the basketball exhibition game with a slim a two-point lead.

According to Xinhua, the 2015 FIBA Asia Championship winning team geared up their defense and went up for the glass to establish a nine-point lead over France in the early minutes of the final period. However, France fought back and rallied during the game. After France cut the deficit to just three points in the final 60 seconds of the game, Houston Rockets' second-round pick Zhou Qi blocked a big shot and Zhai Xiaochuan found the reigning CBA Domestic MVP Yi Jianlian with a long pass, who finished the play with a slam dunk to seal the victory for the hosts.

Yi scored a game-high 27 points while Zhai and Guo combined for 28.

"It's the best game we played since we returned from Italy," said Gong Luming, head coach of the Chinese team. "But we still made errors. The Olympics is coming and we have to be ready." 

TagsYi Jianlian, Zhou Qi, Rio Olympics 2016, houston rockets, Guo Ailun, cba, chinese men's national basketball team