Taiwan yesterday fought all the way into the final quarter of a cross-strait basketball duel, but after captain Liu Ching left the game due to an injury, they could not hold on, losing 93-88 to China in the final FIBA Asia Challenge group-stage match in Tehran.
Taiwan were strong early on and battled to within one point to end the first half at 49-48.
Led by Liu and US-born naturalized citizen Quincy Davis, Taiwan took a four-point lead in the third quarter, but China recovered the lead in the final quarter.
Liu and Davis led Taiwan in a rally to level the game at 78-78, but faltered down the stretch for China to leverage their advantage in rebounds and turnovers to win.
Taiwan lost their momentum in the final quarter when Liu crashed into China’s defense, falling and sustaining a cut above his right eye, resulting in him leaving the game for medical treatment. Liu is expected to be ready to play the team’s next match.
Taiwan head coach Yen Chia-hua rued the team’s missed opportunities, saying after the game: “We mainly lost in the passing department, as skill level and options for passing were not as good as China’s. Otherwise, we could have created more scoring chances.”
“Before the game, we assessed that we could defeat China, because they came with an inexperienced squad and had some deficiencies in defense and set-play movement,” he said. “It was unfortunate that we did not capitalize on their shortcomings, and we also had too many turnovers.”
Four of Taiwan’s players scored in double digits, with Liu and Davis each at 19, Chou Yi-hsian contributing 18 points and Chou Po-cheng adding 11 points.
China’s big center Hu Jinqiu had a game-high 24 points and 11 rebounds in a stellar display for his team.
In the other Group E contest, Jordan prevailed over the Philippines 119-105 in a high-scoring game.
After yesterday’s result, Taiwan held a 3-2 record for third place in the group, qualifying for the quarter-finals, where they are to face tough opponents, likely one of the top finishers from Group F, either hosts Iran or South Korea.
Taiwan started the tournament with three straight wins, but fell to Jordan 109-83 on Tuesday.
China improved to 4-1, in second place behind Jordan (also 4-1) on points difference.
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