Taking advantage of a 16-7 run late in the third quarter, Taiwan shook off a feisty squad from Uzbekistan to win their first match 81-71 in Group B action at this year’s FIBA Asia Championship at the Wuhan Sports Complex in Wuhan, China, yesterday afternoon.
What should have been an easy win for Taiwan was anything but.
Taiwan jumped to a quick 9-0 lead in the opening minutes, with Chen Hsin-an and Lee Hsueh-lin teaming up for seven quick points, but they quickly fell to the level of their opponents by turning the ball over several times in an evenly fought first half and they had to settle for a disappointing 45-36 lead at halftime.
Back-to-back baskets by Wu Tai-hao promptly upped Taiwan’s lead to a dozen over the first three minutes of the third quarter, before Uzbekistan went on a 5-0 run of their own to chip the deficit down to seven points midway through the quarter.
It took a valiant effort by speedy guard Chang Tsung-hsien, who netted six of Taiwan’s final 10 points in the third, including a hard drive to the hoop with time expiring to complete a three-point play the old-fashioned way to put his team ahead 67-50.
That was all Uzbekistan could handle as they fell behind by as many as 22 points in the fourth quarter (76-54), prompting Taiwan skipper Chou Jung-san to bring in his reserve players with more than four minutes remaining in the game, making the final score much closer than it should have been.
Four players scored in double-digits for Taiwan, led by Chang’s 15 points. James Mao also came off the bench to score 13, while team captain Chen and three-point threat Lu Cheng-rue chipped in 11 apiece.
Sharp shooter Gennadly Zinovev led a pack of five double-digit scorers for Uzbekistan with a game-high 17, including three three-pointers.
The win pushed Taiwan ahead of Uzbekistan in the race for the No. 2 spot in the group, with defending champions Iran topping Qatar 40-4 in their match later yesterday to remain unbeaten with a 2-0 record.
TODAY’S GAME
Next up for Taiwan will be Qatar, who will likely dress only six players as five of their starters were declared ineligible by tournament officials at the start of the competition.
Tipoff is scheduled for 3:30pm this afternoon at the Wuhan Sports Complex.
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