Held to three points in a gruesome third quarter performance, Team Taiwan dropped its third straight game in the Jones Cup Basketball Tournament with an 87-73 loss to Jordan in Sinjhuang on Sunday.
The hosts were held to no field goals in the quarter, missing all seven of the shots taken with all their points coming by means of free throws.
Before their woeful third quarter, Taiwan had put on a solid first half performance, hitting seven of 14 three-pointers to rally from 10 down (22-12) in the first quarter to within four at the half (41-37).
But what followed cruelly transpired into a 20-plus point Jordanian lead during the fatal third.
Even though Taiwan scored 33 points in the fourth quarter to cut the final deficit to 14, it did not make up for the fact that the defending champions had totally embarrassed the home squad with a lopsided 51-17 rebounding margin that made the two previous losses by Taiwan commendable triumphs in comparison.
Chen Tzu-wei’s game-high 19 points was the lone highlight for Taiwan as the dimunitive forward racked up 12 of Taiwan’s 25 points in the second quarter to keep the game close at that point.
The win proved costly for Jordan, who lost top scorer Fadel Anajjar for the remainder of the tournament with a torn anterior cruciate ligament.
TONIGHT’S GAME
Next up for Taiwan is Kazakhstan.
The struggling home side face a tall order as their central Asian visitors, who have only won twice in the tournament so far, have six players taller than 200cm, headed by giant center Anton Ponomarev at 209cm.
Game time is scheduled for 7pm.
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