Team Taiwan suffered its fourth straight defeat in the Jones Cup Basketball Tournament with an 88-67 loss against Egypt at the Taipei County Sinjhuang Gymnasium on Monday night.
A first half scoring drought allowed the Egyptians to string together a 25-0 run that sealed the win long before the final buzzer sounded.
The loss virtually eliminated the home team from the top-four finish needed to qualify for tomorrow’s semi-finals.
Down by as many as 30 points, Taiwan began a comeback with a ball-denying full-court press that led to several turnovers against the Egyptians. This helped reduce the deficit to 14 points midway through the fourth quarter.
But that was as close as Taiwan got with fatigue taking its toll over the final five minutes of the game that saw the home side taper off to lose by a big margin.
Leading the inconsistent Taiwanese attack were Yang Tseh-yi and Ou-yang Jin-hen whose 17 and 16 points were a big reason Taiwan managed to pour in 30 points during the third quarter to make the second half somewhat competitive.
Firing on all cylinders with an offense that featured 204cm Tarek El-Gannam and 210cm Mohamed Khorshed, Egypt placed three different players in double-digit scoring, spearheaded by Rami Gunady’s six three-pointers.
TONIGHT’S GAME
The final game for Team Taiwan in the round-robin first round is a meeting with the US. Letting it all hang out may just be the best approach for a home side with little to lose and an expected seventh-place finish in the eight-team competition.
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