Taiwan picked up their second win in as many days in this year’s William Jones Cup International Basketball Tournament by topping the US 85-70 at the University of Taipei Gymnasium in Tianmu last night to improve to 2-0.
The Islanders did start off well against the US, turning the ball over six times in a sloppy start to fall behind the visitors 22-16 after one quarter of play.
However, with point man Chang Tsung-hsien pouring in 10 in a 22-point second quarter, the home hosts managed to outscore the US 22-10 to end the first half with a 38-32 lead. Chang went on to finish with a game-high 23 points and six rebounds on the night.
Photo: Lin Cheng-kung, Taipei Times
“It was a big win for us, because it showed that we could play with anyone,” Chang said after the game.
The US halved the halftime lead with a 22-point third quarter with Craig Williams Jr’s eight points leading the way to keep it competitive.
However, the momentum quickly shifted back to Taiwan as the hosts rolled off a 7-0 run in the first two minutes of the fourth to take a 63-53 lead.
Even though the visitors rallied to within three in the next two minutes to give Taiwan a scare, Yang Chin-min made sure the victory would not slip away by downing three clutch three-pointers to put Taiwan ahead for good.
Four players scored in double digits for the US, led by Cory Bradford’s team-high 21, while the hosts placed a pair of high scorers: Chang’s 23 and Quincy Davis’s 20 and a game-high nine rebounds.
SOUTH KOREA 87, TAIWAN TEAM B 84
Taiwan’s Team B fell short to South Korea in an 87-84 decision in the second day of play in Tianmu last night.
What should have been an easy win for the visitors from the north turned into a dog fight as the Taiwanese youngsters refused to go away, despite trailing by as many as 10 points in the fourth quarter.
Lin Chih-wei’s pair of free throws with 50.5 seconds remaining in the contest brought the Islanders to within one with the scoreboard reading 83-82. However, that was as close as the Taiwanese got as they missed a golden opportunity to skid ahead when Peng Chun-yen missed a layup in the closing seconds to disappoint the home crowd.
In other Jones Cup action, it was:
‧ Jordan 74 Egypt 61
‧ Japan 72 Iran 79 (OT)
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