Unable to defend against a taller lineup from the Philippines, Taiwan dropped a 96-93 heartbreaker in overtime in Game 5 of Jones Cup play at the Taipei County Gymnasium in Sinjhuang last night for its third defeat of the tournament.
Taiwan rallied from deficits as large as a dozen in the fourth quarter, capped by Chen Hsuen-hsiang’s (Bank of Taiwan) game-tying three with 18.7 second remaining in regulation time. The home hosts showed no signs of intimidation against a much bigger Filipino lineup led by 211cm center Marcus Douthit before faltering in the final seconds to lose this one by three in overtime.
Taiwan had a final chance at tying the game late in overtime after a no-call by officials on an apparent travelling violation by Philippine’s Joseph Casio that would have given the home team one final possession.
The Philippines had the upper hand early on, leading the Taiwanese nationals by three after one quarter.
The hosts came from behind to tie the game at 34-all at the half with Chen Tzu-wei and Chen Hsuen-hsiang netting eleven points apiece in the first half.
A 9-1 run by the Philippines upped the visitors’ lead to eight points (58-50) in the third before the home team answered with an 8-0 run to tie the game at 58-all early in the fourth.
Three misses from close range, coupled with back-to-back transition baskets by the Philippines upped the visitors’ lead to a dozen midway through the fourth, setting the stage for the comeback rally that forced the game into overtime.
Lebanon 96,
Taiwan College All-Stars 66
Lebanon proved too strong and poised for the Taiwan College All-Stars, skidding past the local school boys with an outstanding second half to run away with a 96-66 blowout win yesterday afternoon.
The win upped the Lebanese record to 3-1 over the first four games, virtually guaranteeing them a second-place finish with the Philippine and Australia remaining on their scheduler.
The best and brightest from Taiwan’s colleges managed to hang with the visitors by keeping the deficit under 10 in the first half (47-39), but failed to sustain their momentum as they succumbed to a potent Lebanese attack in a lopsided second half to lose this one long before the final buzzer sounded.
Iran 84, Townsville Crocodiles 54
Iran had little trouble against a weaker Townsville squad from Down Under, overpowering the Crocodiles in an 84-54 final to remain unbeaten at 4-0.
Samad Bahrami watched most of the game from the bench as head coach Veselin Matic rested his top scorer to give his reserve players more floor time, leaving the floor to forward Samad Dazarpanah.
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