NANJING (Olympics) – Angola and the high-flying artistry of Olimpio Cipriano provided plenty of thrills but China and Yao Ming won the game on the opening night of the FIBA Diamond Ball for Men.

Cipriano poured in a game-high 24 points, the majority on a series of soaring moves through the lane, and the excellent Joaquim Gomes had 17 of his 21 points in the first half but the Chinese prevailed 83-74.

Yao, who is trying to get into game shape before the Beijing Olympics, looked a step slow but the 7ft 6in giant still showed enough quality and finished with 21 points and five rebounds.

He was called for an unsportsmanlike foul when fighting for position against Eduardo Mingas but overall, national team coach Jonas Kazlauskas will have been pleased with his performance.

Liu Wei, the China point guard, also played well and finished with 18 points while also handing out six assists.

Angola led by as many as eight points in the first half but China fought back with Liu and Wang Shipeng each scoring nine points to take a 40-37 advantage to the break.

They only led by three late in the contest but with Yao causing problems down low and China doing a good job on defense, they held on for a victory to avenge their recent defeat to Angola in the Stankovic Cup.

FIBA