Taiwan beats RP, 86-77

THE Filipino community in Taipei cheers on Powerade-Team Pilipinas in its game against Taiwan in the 31st Jones Cup tournament (Photo by Tony LU)



JONES CUP
RP VS. TAIWAN

TEAM STANDINGS

Korea 2 0
Lebanon 2 0
Taiwan-A 2 0
Jordan 1 0
Iran 1 0
RP

0 2
Taiwan-B 0 2
Japan 0 2
Kazakhstan 0 2

Games Today
1 p.m. – Lebanon (2-0) vs. Jordan (1-0)
3 p.m. – RP (0-2) vs. Kazakhstan (0-2)
5 p.m. – Iran (1-0) vs. Korea (2-0)
7 p.m. – Taiwan A (2-0) vs. Taiwan B (0-2)


TAIPEI – Powerade-Team Pilipinas suffered a second straight loss in the 31st William Jones Cup tournament Sunday, an 86-77 heartbreaker to host Taiwan at the Hsinchuang gymnasium.

After a humiliating 31-point setback to defending champion Jordan Saturday, the Nationals rediscovered the passion and tenacity that were absent in the opener.

Coming back from 16 points down in the second half, Team RP leveled thrice in the final six minutes – 68-all on a vicious slam by Japeth Aguilar, 70-all on Wynne Arboleda’s driving layup, and 72-all on free throws by Kerby Raymundo with 3:01 to go.

Two successive traveling violations called on the Nationals after Arboleda’s basket denied them go-ahead opportunities, however, and the host regained their touch following the last deadlock.

Taiwan, which scored the game’s first 12 points and was up 30-14 after 10 minutes, strung nine straight points from there, highlighted by a corner 3-point shot from Yang Chin-Min to seal their second win and the Philippines’ consecutive defeat in the 9-team competition held in honor of the founding secretary-general of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA).

A 12-0 run keyed by 3-pointers from James Yap and Cyrus Baguio brought the Nationals within 62-60 with 2:04 left in the third quarter but they couldn’t muster the needed to energy to get past the gritty Taiwanese.

Two missed foul shots by Baguio down the stretch slammed the door on Team RP.

Seemingly unable to defend for the whole of 24 seconds in the first half, the RP team trailed early as the host riddled the Nationals’ shabby resistance with 11 triples.

But Powerade-RP came firing for the third quarter, and a renewed defensive effort helped chip away at the double-digit deficit.

Again, however, it was the RP team's abysmal shooting that did it in as the Nationals missed 18 three-point shots overall.

In earlier games, South Korea and Lebanon picked up their second straight victories, while Iran, the defending FIBA Asia champion, debuted with flourish.

The Koreans shook off tenacious Taiwan-B, 101-93, while Lebanon, with Fadih El-Khatib pouring 33 points, dumped Japan, 90-81.

Iran, getting 28 points from 6-foot-4 Nikkah Bahrami, trounced Kazakhstan, 79-56.

The Philippines takes on Kazakhstan at 4 p.m. Monday in a battle of winless teams.


SCORES:

TAIWAN 86 – Tien 21, Yang C.M. 14, Yang C.Y. 14, Chang 8, Lee 8, Chen 8, Chen S.N. 7, Lin 2, Hsu 2, Wu 2.

POWERADE RP 77 – Miller 15, Raymundo 12, Yap 12, Santos 10, Aguilar 10, Baguio 7, Arboleda 4, De Ocampo 2, Norwood 2, Dillinger 2, Taulava 1, Thoss 0.

Quarters: 30-14; 53-38; 65-62; 86-77