China were held off 75-73 by their South Korean counterparts on Sunday in the first leg of the China-S. Korea Basketball All-Star Games in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province.

KBL team center Oyedeji Olumide, a former CBA player for Beijing Ducks, received the MVP award of the game with 22 points and 14 rebounds. Dontae Jones added 23 points and 7 rebounds in the win. Chris Porter from CBA's Fujian SBS team contributed 17 points, the highest for the Chinese side.

The referees, two Chinese and one Korean, were another focus of the game. 64 fouls were called during the game with three players sent off for committing five fouls, an unexpectedly high level.

The Chinese side showed weakness from the outset and a 9-2 surge from the South Koreans kept the home side behind in the first quarter which ended 20-14.

The visiting Koreans extended the gap with a seven point run at the start of the second period. A three-pointer from Liu Wei kept the Chinese within ten at 27-17. However, China still lagged behind at 42-35 by the quarter's end. Coach Hu Weidong continually made changes to the lineup to refresh things.

Chinese raced back in the third quarter after center Wang Zhizhi was put back on court. China then shot seven points to level the score at 42-all, but slumped before the last quarter at 56-54.

The two sides traded free-shots in the fourth quarter. However, China ultimately failed to catch up by the final whistle.

The two sides will play the second leg on Tuesday in Inchon, South Korea.
 
(CRI January 29, 2007)