Taiwan proved no match for Japan in their Group A opener at the FIBA Asia Stankovic Cup in Beirut late on Saturday, dropping a 61-58 decision to their local rivals in a game they could have won.
Despite a slow start that saw them fall behind by as many as 13 points in the first two minutes of the contest, Taiwan were able to fight back with the solid play of Jien Jia-hong (Pure Youth Construction) and Chen Shih-nian (Taiwan Beer) to pull the deficit back to four (30-26) at the half.
After a 4-0 run at the start of the third quarter that evened things up, the game quickly turned into a seesaw battle, with neither team able to take a lead of more than three points.
PHOTO: AFP
Japan would skid ahead by one with a pair of free-throws from Takuya Kawamura in the closing seconds of the game that gave Taiwan possession of the ball with 14 seconds remaining, but Tseng Wen-ding’s (Yulon Luxgens) shot from inside the paint with four seconds left was short, handing Japan the win.
Failure to keep Japan off the glass ultimately cost Taiwan the game as they allowed the Japanese to enjoy a huge 35-16 rebounding edge on the day.
Tseng also did not have a good showing after only two days of practice with the team. He had opted to attend a training camp in the US instead of playing with the team during last month’s Jones Cup, which would have given the star center more time with his teammates on the national squad.
In the other Group A game, Kazakhstan beat Iraq 76-65. In Group B, Qatar defeated Syria 83-75, while in the late game, the Philippines were trounced 74-59 by the hosts Lebanon.
Taiwan will to take on Kazakhstan in their second game of the competition. The top five finishers from the 10 competing nation’s will qualify for the Asian Games in Guangzhou, China, in November.
Additional reporting by Staff Writer
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