Taiwan on Monday lost to hosts the Philippines 90-83 in Quezon City, their second straight defeat in Group B of the International Basketball Federation World Cup.
Captain Liu Cheng and center Quincy Davis, a naturalized Taiwanese citizen, led Taiwan’s offense to post a 12-2 lead out of the gate, and closed out the first quarter with a five-point advantage.
However, the home crowd came alive as the Philippines rallied in the second quarter, pushing ahead to lead by two at halftime.
Photo courtesy of the Chinese Taipei Basketball Association
In the second half, the Gilas Pilipinas extended their advantage with an onslaught by starters Jayson Castro William, Roger Pogoy and June Mar Fajardo.
Taiwan fought hard to stay close, but Davis and guard Chiang Yu-an fouled out late in the game, allowing the hosts to hand their 10,000 fans in attendance a seven-point victory.
LOST MOMENTUM
“The players followed the game plan well and jump-started our scoring in the first quarter, but later on, we got into foul trouble, and our offense suffered when Davis and Chiang fouled out. We also did not cash in on several fast breaks and lost momentum,” Taiwan manager Chou Chun-san said.
“Several of our young players performed very well when under pressure. It was a good learning experience for them and we hope to recover from this defeat,” Chou added.
Davis agreed that his foul trouble affected the team’s performance, while also pointing to miscues and turnovers, which squandered scoring chances.
He and his teammates can learn lessons from this game, he said.
HIGH SCORERS
Davis was Taiwan’s highest scorer with 20 points and nine rebounds, just short of a double-double, while forwards Chou Yi-hsiang and Huang Jhen added 17 and 16 points respectively.
Castro led the Philippines with 20 points, followed by Fajardo with 17 and starters Pogoy and Matthew Wright, who contributed 11 each.
“We are happy, because we found a way to grind out two wins, despite being nowhere near 100 percent,” Philippine manager Chot Reyes said.
Elsewhere in Group B on Monday, hosts Australia clobbered Japan 82-58 at Titanium Security Arena in Adelaide.
So far, Japan has joined Taiwan with two losses each to complete the bottom half of the group, while Australia and the Philippines are on top with two wins each.
Australia on Friday last week enjoyed a 104-66 victory over Taiwan in the opener in Taipei.
In Sunday’s Group A action, China battled to a 92-81 triumph over the hosts in Goyang, South Korea, and New Zealand pounded home-side Hong Kong 133-74.
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