Taiwan were beaten by a potent Philippines attack, dropping their second game of this year’s William Jones Cup International Basketball Tournament in a 77-69 defeat at the Sinjhuang Sports Complex in New Taipei City last night.
The hosts did not get a quick start they had hoped, trailing the visitors early in the opening frame before a pair of three’s by Liu Cheng led a small rally by Taiwan to tie the game at 20-20 late in the first.
After a 6-0 run by the Philippines to end the first quarter, the game quickly turned into an offensive clinic for the Philippines, who outplayed Taiwan in every facet of the game to take a comfortable 47-31 lead at the half.
Photo: CNA
Taiwan managed to come back by dominating the third, outscoring the visitors 23-7 to erase the deficit, highlighted by Lin “the Beast” Chih-chieh’s putback basket with 30 seconds remaining in the quarter to force a 54-54 tie.
That was as close as the home team got, despite rallying from as many as seven down to fall within two of the Philippines with less than four minutes to play.
IRAN 88, TAIWAN B 66
Taiwan B lost to a bigger and stronger Iran team in New Taipei City yesterday afternoon, falling to 0-2.
Poor perimeter shooting in the opening frame set the young hosts back by eleven as they trailed the Persians 20-9 on one-for-12 shooting from the field.
That set the tone for the rest of the game, as the visitors led 41-20 at the half on their way to a blowout victory.
RUSSIA 86, SOUTH KOREA 84
Russia made it two wins in a row by topping South Korea in an 86-84 thriller in the first game in New Taipei City yesterday afternoon to remain unbeaten in the tournament.
Kostiantyn Glazyrin’s timely basket with 2.9 seconds remaining in regulation time not only broke an 84-84 tie to give the Russia the lead for good, but also kept them from potentially losing a game in which they led for most of the way.
Five different players scored in double-digits for Russia, led by Aleksei Fedorchuk’s 18 points and 11 rebounds, while South Korea relied on the superior shooting of Kim Sun-hyung, who shot a spectacular nine-for-11 from the field on a 24-point effort to help his team nearly pull off what would have been an incredible comeback.
UNITED STATES 91, JAPAN 76
The US overcame a sluggish start against Japan by outscoring their opponents 57-39 in a monstrous second half to run away with a 91-76 triumph last night.
Marquin Chandler broke out with 18 of his game-high 26 points in the second half to spearhead the US’ comeback.
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