Taiwan A came up short against Egypt in their fourth game of this year’s William Jones Cup, dropping a 69-61 decision to the visitors at the University of Taipei Gymnasium in Tianmu last night to settle for a 3-1 record in the preliminary round.
Poor shooting from the perimeter set the hosts back by as many as eight points in the opening frame, before a high-pressure defense forced eight turnovers by Egypt and brought Taiwan A to within six (31-25) at halftime.
Four three-pointers by Taiwan A’s Hung Chih-shan and Yang Chin-min, coupled with a subpar effort on the part of Egypt’s offense, further closed the gap between the two squads in a solid third quarter for Taiwan A.
Photo: Lin Tsung-wei, Taipei Times
However, the hosts never managed to break through for a knockout punch amid several attempts to take the lead in the fourth quarter, handing the game to a fundamentally sound Egypt in a disappointing defeat.
With Jordan also falling to defeat yesterday, Taiwan A were in a three-way tie for first place in the standings with the US and Jordan.
TAIWAN B 85, IRAN 75
Rallying from a second-half deficit with a brilliant fourth quarter, Taiwan B pulled off the upset of the tournament so far by topping defending champions Iran in Tianmu yesterday afternoon for their first win of the tournament.
Even though Iran did not send a full crew to this year’s competition in the interests of giving their reserve players more floor time, the win by Taiwan B was just as sweet as the hosts showed tremendous resilience by rallying from as many as seven points down in the first half to grab leads as large as 17 points in the fourth quarter en route to a remarkable win.
Leading the way for the hosts were Hu Long-mao and Peng Chun-yen, whose 34 combined points accounted for nearly half of their team’s total offense.
It took seven points apiece from Hu and Peng in the decisive fourth quarter to help Taiwan B outscore their opponents 23-12 in the valiant victory.
US 86, JORDAN 79
The US dealt previously unbeaten Jordan their first loss of the tournament by erupting for 30 points in the final quarter to claim a hard-fought victory yesterday afternoon.
Daryl “MaJic” Dorsey put on a “Magic Show” with 18 points in the fourth quarter to single-handedly down Jordan in one of the most spectacular finishes in recent tournament history.
In other Jones Cup action, it was: South Korea 102, Japan 87
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