Taiwan suffered its second defeat in as many days on Day 4 of this year’s Asia University Men’s Basketball Championship, dropping an 81-74 decision to a much bigger Chinese squad at the Sinjhuang Sports Complex in New Taipei City last night to even its record to 2-2.
Failure to convert from the free throw line was the culprit as the Taiwanese missed 25 from the charity stripe to hand victory to their cross-strait rivals.
“It’s hard to win any game when you leave that many points on the table,” Taiwanese coach Lu Chin-shan said.
His team wasted an otherwise decent effort against a much bigger Chinese lineup that averaged near 200cm in height.
A fraction of the missed free throws would have easily given Taiwan the victory.
The Chinese attacked the inside of the paint right away with big man Wei Meng getting a good portion of his game-high 29 points in the first quarter that saw Taiwan trailing China 23-16.
However, Taiwan regrouped by going on a late run in the second quarter to grab a surprising 41-34 lead at the half with Cheng Tieh and Hu Kai-hsiang leading the way.
South Korea 87, Mongolia 52
Kim Min-goo and Kim Jong-ky of South Korea’s Kyunghee University combined for 45 of their team’s 87 points as they roughed up Mongolia in an 87-52 blowout in the second game in Sinjhuang last night to attain a perfect 4-0 mark.
The showdown between the only two previously unbeaten teams lived up to its billing as the Mongolians hung tough with the favored South Koreans and actually led for a brief moment in the second quarter, before settling for a six-point deficit at the half (33-27).
However, the heirs of Genghis Khan could not keep pace with the South Koreans, who played a near-flawless second half by outscoring their opponents 54-to-25 en route to an easy win.
The Philippines 93, Hong Kong 88
The Philippines won their first game of the tournament by topping Hong Kong by a 93-88 margin in the first game in Sinjhuang yesterday afternoon to break out of the cellar in the standings.
hUALIEN PROBATION CUP
‧ Taiwan Beer 91, Kinmen Liquor 84
‧ Luxgens 78, Bank of Taiwan 68
‧ USA 100, Tigers 78
‧ Pure Youth 96, Leopards 69
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