MANILA -- Puerto Rico crushed China, 107-89, in their final Group B assignment and secured a ticket to the second round of the 2023 FIBA World Cup at the Araneta Coliseum on Wednesday.

The Puerto Ricans, who were coming off a 94-77 thrashing against Serbia, looked flawless while piling a 15-point lead against the Chinese squad in the first two quarters.

Jiwei Zhao tried to rally China in the third canto, but John Holland and Tremont Waters managed to keep the distance for Puerto Rico.

Israel Romero then began attacking the basket, leading an 8-2 run midway through the fourth period to give the Puerto Ricans a comfortable 93-77 advantage.

It was all downhill for China since then.

Waters led Puerto Rico in scoring with 22 points, six assists and three rebounds. Romero added 18 markers and 10 rebounds, while Christopher Ortiz had 13 points.

Rui Zhao topscored China with 16 points.

Japan remained as the only Asian team to tally a win in the first round following a victory over Finland, 98-88, in Group E play.

Gilas Pilipinas lost all their three games and was relegated to the classification round.

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