Team Taiwan lost its first game of the Jones Cup yesterday, falling to Iran 69-85 in a game that it led going into the third quarter.
Taiwan got off to a fast start again in the first quarter, pulling ahead 8-2 early on. Team Taiwan's South Korean coach Cheng Kwang-suk had emphasized before the tournament that Taiwan would need to show speed and agility. With the team greatly over-matched in size by the Iranians, Taiwan took advantage of fast breaks to keep out of the Iranians' mid-court pressure and maintain an 18-12 lead at the end of the quarter.
Just 15 seconds into the second quarter, tall man Tseng Wen-ming had to sit when he was handed his third foul. But Wu Tai-hao stepped up in his place, scoring 12 points in the second quarter to finish with 15 points at the half.
Whereas three-point shots had carried the team against Japan yesterday -- Lin "The Beast" Chin-chieh scored all his field goals on three-pointers -- Taiwan did not score a single three-point shot in the first half. Instead, the team held its lead by being aggressive and getting to the foul line to go into halftime ahead 34-31.
Things took a turn for the worse in the third quarter when Iran's shooters found their range, hitting three three-point shots in a row at one point. Aidin Nilkkhah Bahrami scored on a fast break and went to the foul line to give Iran its first double-digit lead at 52-42, but Taiwan came back with its own three-point attack to finish the quarter three points behind at 57-54.
The wheels fell off for Taiwan in the final quarter as Bahrami continued his furious second-half performance, scoring all of his 25 points in the final two quarters, while Chen Hsin-an couldn't end his three-point drought as the game wound to a close.
Taiwan's match was preceded by a nail-biting contest between the Philippines and Lebanon that ended in a stunning reversal when Rony Fahed banged a hail-mary three-point shot off the top of the glass at the buzzer to give Lebanon the 65-62 victory.
Elated coaches and bench players immediately rushed onto the court to mob Fahed, who seemed as shocked as the Filipino team that the ball had found its way into the net. The Philippines seemed to have good control for most of the match before collapsing in the fourth quarter to be outscored 10-21 and hand Lebanon its second win of the tournament.
Monday's results:
Jordan 63, Kazakhstan 61; Lebanon 80, Iran 71; South Korea 70, Qatar 69; Philippines 72, US 67; Taiwan 90, Japan 77.
Tuesday's results:
US 106, Qatar 68; Kazakhstan 96, Japan 61; South Korea 71, Jordan 65; Lebanon 65, Philippines 62; Iran 85, Taiwan 69.
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