Despite putting on a good fight, Taiwan were yesterday defeated 71-93 by the Philippines in their Asia Zone Group B qualifier for next year’s FIBA Basketball World Cup.
With the support of a boisterous home crowd, Taiwan started off with hot shooting for a quick 12-4 lead and led 19-16 at the end of the first quarter.
However, visiting Gilas Pilipinas seized the momentum and settled down with a pressure defense to deny the hosts, then surged ahead with 28 points in the second quarter to take a 44-37 lead at halftime.
After the break, Taiwan tried to hit back, but the Philippines maintained their advantage and dominated under the posts, leading the close game 68-60 at the end of the third quarter.
However, the hosts faded in the final quarter, as they were unable to overcome the Philippines defense, and the visitors steadily built up their attack to outscore Taiwan 25-11 to finish with a 22-point overall margin.
Quincy Davis — a naturalized Republic of China citizen playing at center — top-scored for Taiwan with 17 points and seven rebounds.
Starters Lu Cheng-ju and Chen Ying-chun also scored in the double digits, contributing 13 and 11 points respectively.
June Mar Fajardo led the visitors with 22 points, one of four Philippines players who scored in the double digits.
One key difference was the visitors’ strong defense, which caused Taiwan to commit 22 turnovers, compared with 12 for the Philippines.
Taiwan entered the match with a 1-3 record, which placed them third in Group B behind leaders Australia and the Philippines, with Japan in fourth place.
In yesterday’s other Group B game, Japan pulled off a surprise 79-78 victory against Australia in Chiba, Japan.
After suffering two defeats to Australia and an earlier loss to Gilas Pilipinas, Taiwan recorded their only victory in February, when they narrowly edged the hosts 70-69 in Yokohama, Japan.
Despite yesterday’s defeat, Taiwan can still advance, as the top three teams in the group can progress to the second round of Asian Zone qualifiers.
To qualify for the next round, Taiwan have to defeat Japan in the final group match at the Taipei Heping Basketball Gymnasium on Monday.
Both teams now hold a 1-4 record.
MOTHER KNOWS BEST: Warriors’ coach Kerr said his 91-year-old mother criticized him for his attitude toward officials that led to his ejection from Monday’s game Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on Wednesday rescued the Oklahoma City Thunder with a game-tying buzzer-beater before finishing with 46 points in a 129-125 overtime victory against the Utah Jazz. The reigning NBA champions looked to be heading for a third straight loss after the Jazz inched into a 114-112 lead following Lauri Markkanen’s layup with just three seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. However, NBA Most Valuable Player Gilgeous-Alexander drained a superb 13-foot jump shot to tie it up at 114-114 as the buzzer sounded to send the game into overtime. Gilgeous-Alexander then took over in the extra period with nine points as the Western
Mohamed Salah’s Egypt knocked reigning champions Ivory Coast out of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) with a 3-2 win in the quarter-finals on Saturday, while Victor Osimhen starred as Nigeria beat Algeria 2-0 to set up a clash with hosts Morocco. In Agadir, Morocco, a thrilling last-eight tie saw Omar Marmoush and Ramy Rabia net in the first half for the Pharaohs before an own goal by Ahmed Aboul-Fetouh brought the Ivorians back into it. Salah then got Egypt’s third early in the second half and they held on after Guela Doue again reduced the deficit. Egypt is to face Senegal
AUSTRALIAN ADVENTURE: Sabalenka aims to follow up with a third Australian Open win, while Taiwanese Joanna Garland claimed a WTA 125 title in Canberra Aryna Sabalenka beat Karolina Muchova in straight sets to reach her third Brisbane International final in a row yesterday, a week ahead of the Australian Open. Sabalenka looked in great touch against the tricky Czech, who had won their last three meetings and went into the match as one of the few players with a winning record over the world No. 1. However, Sabalenka showed her class and power as she broke Muchova once in each set to take the semi-final 6-3, 6-4 in 89 minutes to face Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk in the final. “I struggled against her a couple of times [in
His team were knocked out of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in agonizing fashion on Tuesday, but the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DR Congo) human statue Michel Kuka Mboladinga would be remembered as the tournament’s most remarkable supporter. The colorfully dressed Kuka has earned fame as the fan who stands completely immobile throughout his team’s games, looking toward the sky with his right arm raised and palm open. He has become a media star and on Tuesday was accompanied by a delegation of several hundred Congolese supporters whose trip to Morocco was paid for by the country’s government. They took their
RSS