Taiwan succumbed to a towering Iranian lineup that featured two 210cm players, dropping an 86-67 decision on Day 5 of the FIBA Asia Stankovic Cup in Beirut late on Wednesday evening to close out Group A’s preliminary round with an even 2-2 mark.
The loss sent Taiwan to a third-place finish behind Japan (3-1) and Iran (2-2) as the top four finishers from each group get set to play in the cross-group quarter-finals scheduled for this afternoon.
Similar to last month’s Jones Cup match against the same Iran team, Taiwan opened the game with a surprising 9-7 lead after five minutes of play, but the size disparity quickly took its toll as Iran punched the ball inside the paint with the stellar play of center Asghar Kardoustpoustins, who finished with a game-high 24 points and 11 rebounds to close the gap and take a 17-15 lead by the end of the first quarter.
Taiwan played most of the second quarter evenly against Iran with Tseng Wen-ding (Yulon Luxgens) and Yang Jing-min (Taiwan Beer) leading the attack until a 9-0 run by the Iranians late in the quarter put them ahead 46-36 at the half.
That was more than the Taiwanese could handle, with Tseng and Yang getting into foul trouble in the third quarter as Iran extended their lead to as large as 23 points in the quarter with Kardoustpoustins doing as he pleased inside the paint and fellow shooters converting several attempts from behind the three-point line to open up a big lead.
Four players ended the game with double-digit scoring for Iran, with two netting 20 or more, not to mention the lopsided 57-31 rebounding edge (30 off the offensive glass) enjoyed by the Persians that made it virtually impossible for Taiwan to compete.
Next up for the Taiwanese will be Qatar, who finished second behind undefeated Lebanon with a 3-1 record in Group B preliminary action. Tipoff is scheduled for 9pm.
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