Canada defeated Taiwan White 117-83 in yesterday’s final to claim the 2017 William Jones Cup title with eight wins and one loss at the Heping Basketball Gymnasium in Taipei.
In the title-decider, Taiwan White fought to keep pace in the first two quarters against Canada and were within striking distance, trailing by six points at half-time.
However, Canada opened the third quarter by sinking three-pointers to stretch the lead, and did not give the hosts a chance to rally a comeback, dominating under the boards for rebounds and initiating fast breaks.
Photo: Lin Cheng-kun, Taipei Times
Canada had 53 rebounds overall, compared with 29 for Taiwan White, and 24 to seven assists in favor of Canada.
Canada’s shooting guard Connor Wood and power forward Michael Kyser netted 24 and 23 points, among seven Canada players to score in double digits.
“It was a very good performance by our players. They did not let up with this final game, and we have done it to win this tournament,” Canada head coach Kyle Julius said after the game. “That was not easy to do, because we have to play nine games in nine days. Our team had to be tough mentally, take up our advantage in physical size and strength to play our game. I am proud of our achievement in this competition.”
Taiwan White starter Chen Ying-chun had his best game in the tournament to post a team-high 30 points.
Lithuania fought off Iraq 99–83 to finish second with an eight wins and one loss games record.
Canada prevailed 102-99 over Lithuania in the tie-breaker for second in the competition.
The Philippines beat Iran 90–82 to wrap up the week at with a 6-3 win-loss record, taking third place.
Japan claimed their second win by beating India 77-61 yesterday.
Taiwan White and Japan had the same 2-7 win-loss record and finished only ahead of India in last place, who had lost all nine games.
Taiwan Blue captain Liu Cheng made both free throws in the final seconds to give Taiwan Blue the lead with an 87-85 victory over South Korea.
Tainan TSG Hawks slugger Steven Moya, who is leading the CPBL in home runs, has withdrawn from this weekend’s All-Star Game after the unexpected death of his wife. Moya’s wife began feeling severely unwell aboard a plane that landed at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday evening. She was rushed to a hospital, but passed away, the Hawks said in a statement yesterday. The franchise is assisting Moya with funeral arrangements and hopes fans who were looking forward to seeing him at the All-Star Game can understand his decision to withdraw. According to Landseed Medical Clinic, whose staff attempted to save Moya’s wife,
Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt yesterday backed Nick Champion de Crespigny to be the team’s “roving scavenger” after handing him a shock debut in the opening Test against the British and Irish Lions Test in Brisbane. Hard man Champion de Crespigny, who spent three seasons at French side Castres before moving to the Western Force this year, is to get his chance tomorrow with first-choice blindside flanker Rob Valetini not fully fit. His elevation is an eye-opener, preferred to Tom Hooper, but Schmidt said he had no doubt about his abilities. “I keep an eye on the Top 14 having coached there many years
ON A KNEE: In the MLB’s equivalent of soccer’s penalty-kicks shoot-out, the game was decided by three batters from each side taking three swings each off coaches Kyle Schwarber was nervous. He had played in Game 7 of the MLB World Series and homered for the US in the World Baseball Classic (WBC), but he had never walked up to the plate in an All-Star Game swing-off. No one had. “That’s kind of like the baseball version of a shoot-out,” Schwarber said after homering on all three of his swings, going down to his left knee on the final one, to overcome a two-homer deficit. That held up when Jonathan Aranda fell short on the American League’s final three swings, giving the National League a 4-3 swing-off win after
Seattle’s Cal Raleigh defeated Tampa Bay’s Junior Caminero 18-15 in Monday’s final to become the first catcher to win the Major League Baseball Home Run Derby. The 28-year-old switch-hitter, who leads MLB with 38 homers this season, won US$1 million by capturing the special event for sluggers at Atlanta’s Truist Park ahead of yesterday’s MLB All-Star Game. “It means the world,” Raleigh said. “I could have hit zero home runs and had just as much fun. I just can’t believe I won. It’s unbelievable.” Raleigh, who advanced from the first round by less than 25mm on a longest homer tiebreaker, had his father
RSS