Taiwan yesterday lost its second consecutive game at the Asian qualifiers for next year’s FIBA Basketball World Cup in a close matchup in Okinawa against hosts Japan.
The Japanese national team, ranked seventh in Asia, narrowly defeated the young Taiwanese team 76-71, after gaining control in the final moments of their Group B game, which was tied 69-69 with just 2 minutes left until the final buzzer.
From there, Japan took the lead on a left-handed driving layup by Yudai Nishida.
Photo: CNA
With less than 1 minute, 30 seconds remaining, Japan never looked back, pocketing their first win in the round-robin games, which started in November last year and end in June.
Taiwan head coach Charles Parker said that despite the loss, he was still proud of his team.
“It was a great game. I think that Japan did very well under the circumstances of being new together, but I felt that we had a tremendous effort to win the game,” Parker said. “I’m so very proud of our team. Even in a loss, there’s a lot of positives that our young team gained from this experience.”
Newly naturalized American-born Taiwanese William Artino continued to put on a strong performance at the qualifiers, posting 15 points, 18 rebounds, five assists and one steal, after also recording a double-double in a matchup against Australia just a day earlier.
Center Chou Kuei-yu also scored 21 points for Taiwan.
Taiwan also performed better at the boards, outrebounding Japan 49-38.
Nishida had an explosive game, ending with 27 points, three rebounds, three assists and two blocks, shooting 9-13 from the field.
On Friday, Australia dominated Taiwan by 37 points, winning 98-61, despite a strong performance by Artino.
As one of the cohosts for the World Cup, Japan is already qualified, but Taiwan’s consecutive losses might have an effect on the standings.
Taiwan, ranked 10th in Asia, faces Australia again tomorrow, before playing Japan and China in June.
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