The inaugural Asian University Men's Basketball Championship opened at the Taipei Physical Education College Gymnasium on Monday afternoon with Team China trouncing Hong Kong in a 94-70 final, followed by South Korea's 87-80 victory over Team Taiwan.
Team Hong Kong, made up mainly of players from the Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education, was no match for the Chinese squad from the Northeastern University, defending champs of the China University Basketball Super League, even though it entered the competition with tremendous confidence.
Following the match between China and Hong Kong and a brief opening ceremony, Team Taiwan took center stage in a battle against South Korea and found itself on the short end of the bargain against a club from the Myongji University, winners of South Korea's National Men and Women Classification Basketball Championship in June.
The game began with the hosts coming out firing, led by small forward Lin Yi-hui's (Dacin Tigers) stellar play inside the paint, en route to a 23-19 lead after the first quarter.
But that was all the success that the young Taiwanese team could manage against South Korea as it quickly found itself trailing by four at halftime (42-46), allowing 27 second-quarter points to a rapid-firing South Korean perimeter attack.
The visiting team built a lead as large as 20 points midway through the third quarter with five deadly three-pointers before Team Taiwan attempted a mini rally of its own in the final quarter to make the final score of a game that was never close to somewhat respectable.
Four players scored in double-figures for Taiwan, led by big man Yen Cheng-hong's 19, while South Korean guard Hyun Soo-byun rang up a game-high 21 points.
Poor three-point shooting (3-for-17) was the culprit for Taiwan's disappointing start in the weeklong competition.
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Four teams from around Asia arrived in Taipei on Saturday to join the Taiwanese squad in this year's five-team competition, with China being the early favorite, followed by South Korea, Mongolia and Hong Kong.
Each team will play four games in a round-robin preliminary round ending on Friday. The top four finishers will advance into Saturday's semi-finals, with Sunday afternoon's championship game to follow.
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