Taiwan made the most out of an otherwise disappointing showing at the FIBA Asia Championship in Changsha, China, closing out the Classification Round with a 99-69 win over Kuwait at the Central South University of Forestry and Technology gymnasium late on Monday evening to settle for a 13th-place finish.
Taiwan did not exactly start off the game on the right foot, as they took more than two minutes to get on the scoreboard.
However, the early-game jitters soon went away as Taiwan rolled off a 17-10 run midway through the first quarter to grab a 23-16 advantage by the end of the period.
That set up an improved effort on both ends of the floor in the second quarter to help Taiwan build a double-digit lead, reaching 46-32 at the half.
Back-to-back three-pointers by Kuwait’s Hamad Hasan carried the underdogs to within nine points of Taiwan with less than five minutes to play in the third, but Lu Cheng-ju quickly returned the favor by downing a pair of three-pointers to give Taiwan a double-digit cushion for good.
All 12 Taiwan players saw floor time in their final contest of the tournament, with Liu Cheng netting 17 to lead a pack of four double-digit scorers.
As for Kuwait, Hasan’s game-high 26 was the lone highlight on a night they fought well against a heavily favored opponent for nearly three quarters before faltering in the fourth.
TAIWAN 111, SINGAPORE 65
Taiwan dominated Singapore in the Classification Round of the competition with a 111-65 rout late on Sunday evening to earn the chance to take on Kuwait.
Heading into the contest as heavy favorites, Taiwan opened with a 10-0 run in the early minutes, thanks to a pair of three-pointers from Tien Lei, to take a 22-14 lead after one quarter of play.
Taiwan followed the first quarter with a strong second behind the stellar play of Tsai Wen-cheng and Lu to widen their lead past 20 points.
With the outcome of the game all but certainly determined, skipper Chou Chun-san cleared his bench to give the reserves extra floor time in the second half, as Taiwan steadily built their lead past 40 en route to a lopsided victory.
Five players scored in the double-digits for Taiwan, with Tien leading the way with 21 points on a night no Taiwan player spent more than 24 minutes on the court.
As for Singapore, Ng Hanbin’s team-high 17 led a trio of double-figure scorers for the city-state, who struggled from the get-go against a superior opponent.
Freddie Freeman homered and drove in four runs, Shohei Ohtani also went deep and Roki Sasaki earned his first major league win as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves 10-3 on Saturday night for their seventh straight victory. The Dodgers have won the first two games of the series to improve to 5-0 against Atlanta this year. Los Angeles’ three-game sweep at home early in the season left the Braves 0-7. Sasaki allowed three runs and six hits over five innings. The 23-year-old right-hander gave up a home run to Ozzie Albies, but received plenty of offensive support in his
INTER AWAIT: Superb saves by PSG ’keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma inspired the victory, as Arsenal were punished for misses, including one by Bukayo Saka Arsenal on Wednesday fell short on the big stage again as their painful UEFA Champions League semi-final exit against Paris Saint-Germain left Mikel Arteta to rue his club’s failure to provide him with enough attacking options. Arteta’s side were unable to reach the Champions League final for the first time in 19 years as PSG clinched a tense 2-1 win at Parc des Princes. Trailing 1-0 from last week’s first leg in London, the Gunners made a blistering start to the second leg, but could not convert their chances as Gianluigi Donnarumma’s superb saves inspired PSG’s 3-1 aggregate victory. Arsenal were punished for
Bayern Munich on Sunday were crowned German champions for the 34th time, giving striker Harry Kane his first major trophy, after second-placed Bayer 04 Leverkusen drew 2-2 at SC Freiburg. Bayern’s 3-3 draw at RB Leipzig on Saturday, when the Bavarians came from two goals down to take the lead before conceding a stoppage-time equalizer, meant defending Bundesliga champions Leverkusen needed to win at Freiburg to delay the title party. Leverkusen were two goals down before scoring twice in the final 10 minutes, but Xabi Alonso’s side could not find a third, as Bayern reclaimed the title at the first attempt after
THRILLER: Raphinha gave Barca a 3-2 lead with two minutes remaining of regular time, but Francesco Acerbi equalized the game in the second minute of added time Davide Frattesi on Tuesday fired Inter into the UEFA Champions League final with an extra-time winner that gave the Italians a stunning 4-3 triumph over Barcelona, 7-6 on aggregate. Italy midfielder Frattesi won a tie for the ages under a downpour in Milan when he lashed home in the 99th minute, sending a packed and rocking San Siro wild with joy. Simone Inzaghi’s team will face either Arsenal or Paris Saint-Germain at the end of this month in Munich, Germany, where they would feel they have a great chance to be crowned kings of Europe for a fourth time after
RSS