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GUANGZHOU, Sept. 6-- Thanks to Guo Ailun's five points in the last two minutes, China rallied past South Korea 77-73 in the classification round of the FIBA Basketball World Cup, preserving its hopes of direct qualification for the Tokyo Olympics. The game was tied at 70-70 with two minutes left on the clock. Lee Jung-hyun made a free throw for South Korea leading 71-70. Guo dribbled into the paint for a layup, helping China retake a 72-71 lead with one minute to go. After Yi Jianlian made a steal from Lee, Guo scored his three-pointer to put China ahead at 75-71 with 40 seconds left. Ra Guna made one free throw for the Koreans, only to see Zhao Jiwei's layup kill the game. "We needed the victory. We had lost a couple of games we shouldn't have, which had some negative impact. Hopefully we can gain confidence though this game," China coach Li Nan said. "We played a really tough game, losing the game because we lost our focus in the last few minutes," said Kim Sun-hyung, who had 14 points for South Korea. Zhao Rui and Guo scored 16 points apiece, while Zhou Qi had 13 points and 14 rebounds. Ra made 21 points and Kim had 14 for South Korea. After the tip-off, Zhou assisted Zhai Xiaochuan for a jumper to open the scoring for China who moved ahead 7-2. Lee scored a 3-pointer, Ra made a 3-point play to help South Korea lead 12-9, before Zhao and Sun Minghui combined six points for China that led 19-18 in the first quarter. | 
