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Taiwan begins Straits Cup with two losses

This year's Straits Cup basketball tournament began last night in Miaoli with Taiwan Beer losing to China's Shandong squad 86-72 and the Dacin Tigers losing to China's Jiangsu 95-79.

In the early game, Taiwan Beer got on the board first when Chen Shih-nian hit a three-pointer.

However, Taiwan Beer looked lethargic on offense after their offseason layoff and Shandong scored five straight points to lead 11-3 with 4:30 left in the first. A beautiful spin move by Wu Dai-hao resulted in a basket and free throw to cut the Shandong lead to 22-18 with 1:30 remaining. Another Taiwan Beer drive made it 29-22 as the first quarter ended.

A steal by Ha Hsiao-yuan led to another layup as the brew crew cut the lead to 31-27 with 7:30 left in the second, but Shandong ran off six unanswered points to lead 37-27 before two nice threes by Taiwan Beer narrowed the gap to four points.

Four Shandong scores stretched their lead to 50-36 as the half ended.

Wu led Taiwan Beer in the third period with three straight inside buckets to cut the Shandong lead to 55-45 with six minutes left. A fast break basket by Chen and two free throws by Shandong made it 66-53 as the quarter ended.

A three-pointer from way downtown by Lin Chih-jay cut the Shandong lead to nine with 7:30 left in the game.

Taiwan Beer pushed the pace as the final minutes ticked off, but missed from the outside on three straight possessions. A three-pointer by Shandong with 1:30 left removed any suspense as the Chinese side went on to win 86-72.

Jiangsu 95, Dacin Tigers 79

Dacin came out firing in the second game against Jiangsu, last season's third-placed finisher in the Chinese Basketball Association. With both teams pushing the ball, Dacin took a 13-12 lead with five minutes left in the first, but two three-pointers by Jiangsu saw them jump out to a 19-14 lead. Jiangsu hit on another long shot to make the score 29-18 as the quarter ended.

Jiangsu scored on a fast break to make it 33-22 with five minutes left in the half, but Dacin responded with three three-pointers to cut the lead to three with 3:30 remaining. The half ended with both teams connecting on threes to make it 40-37.

Three quick Jiangsu scores pushed their lead to 51-39 with 7:30 left in the third period before Dacin scored on two shots in the paint to cut the lead to seven with 5:30 left.

Three threes by Jiangsu ran their lead up to 68-52 with 1:30 left in the third, but Dacin came back with two scores in the paint and a layup to cut the deficit to nine as the third quarter ended.

A 3-pointer got Dacin within eight before Jiangsu answered with their own three to make it 73-62 with nine minutes left.

Two outside shots and a dunk by Jiangsu against a suddenly tired-looking Dacin defense made it 83-64 with 6:30 left.

Dacin tried to get back into the game with threes, but Jiangsu scored inside to increase their lead to 91-66 with three minutes left.

Dacin discovered some energy with two minutes left, scoring twice from inside and nailing two threes to make it more respectable, but Jiangsu went on to win 95-79.
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