Scoring early and often, Team Taiwan manhandled Mongolia in a 90-55 blowout on Tuesday night at the Taipei Physical Education College Gymnasium for its first win in the inaugural Asian University Men's Basketball Championship.
Following Monday night's disappointing 87-80 defeat at the hands of the South Koreans, the hosts were determined to get back on track against the team from the Mongolian State University of Technology and Science and the Institute of Business and Trade.
The will to win was immediately apparent as Team Taiwan raced to a 25-10 scoreline in the first quarter, a lead which they increased to 45-23 at halftime.
PHOTO: WANG MIN-WEI, TAIPEI TIMES
The lopsided first half allowed coach Chen Chih-cheng to turn to his bench early in the second half, but that did not stop Taiwan from extending its dominance over Mongolia to finish 35 points clear.
Forward Hsu We-sheng led all scorers with 15 points and eight rebounds for Taiwan, followed by teammates Lu Cheng-rue (Yulon Dinos) and shooting guard Cheng Chang-jun's (Dacin Tigers) -- each with 11 points.
For Mongolia, power forward Sharav Gunsenkhorloo's 12 points (and five boards) was a team-high for a squad that was no match for the Taiwanese.
While aggressive defense by Taiwan forced 31 turnovers on the part of Mongolia, Taiwan also gave up 28 turnovers of its own in a sloppy game that exposed the home team's inexperience.
In other games it was:
South Korea 92 Hong Kong 72 (Tuesday), South Korea 105 China 69 (Wednesday), Hong Kong 90 Mongolia 81 (Wednesday)
Standings as of Wednesday:
South Korea 3-0
China 1-1
Taiwan 1-1
Hong Kong 1-2
Mongolia 0-2
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