Taiwan’s men’s national basketball A team last night held off Qatar 88-74 in a neck-and-neck game to record their third victory in the William Jones Cup in Taipei
While Taiwan edged Qatar 19-16 in the first quarter, their opponents equaled them in putting up 22 points in the second, to head into halftime 41-38.
The tit-for-tat play continued into the third, with Taiwan seemingly being matched for every point.
Photo: CNA
However, with Mohammad al-Bachir Gadiaga putting up 11 points in the quarter, Taiwan ended the quarter 71-60. Lee Chi-wei put up four points in the fourth quarter, for Taiwan to overpower their opponents 88-74. Lin Ting-chien had 21 points.
The win leaves them tied atop the board with the US.
On Sunday, Taiwan’s A and B teams overpowered Japan 86-68 and the Philippines 89-79 respectively to each secure their second consecutive victories.
Photo: CNA
Taiwan’s B team used precision long-range shots to secure their win over the Philippines, represented by the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters of the Philippine Basketball Association.
The home squad, consisting of promising young talent, shot 40 percent from the three-point line with a combined 12 three-pointers, compared with 6-28 or just 21 percent from their opponents.
Taiwan established a 16-point lead in the first quarter and never looked back.
Although the Philippines cut the deficit to eight points in the fourth quarter with more physical play, they were unable to narrow the gap.
Taiwanese-American Adam Hinton scored a game-high 17 points with 3 of 7 from the three-point line, while Senegalese forward and center Cheikh Ahmadou Bamba Sarr, who has said he plans to seek Taiwanese citizenship to be able to play for the national team, grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds.
In Sunday’s other game, Gadiaga of the Taiwan A team, comprising the main roster of the national team, led with 31 points and four assists in their victory over Japan.
On Saturday, the opening day of the tournament, the Taiwan A team defeated the Philippines 98-79, while the B team overpowered Japan 85-59 at Taipei Heping Gymnasium.
In other action yesterday, the US dominated Japan 108-47, while the United Arab Emirates (UAE) topped the Philippines 73-71. On Sunday, Iran beat Qatar 69-63 and the US crushed the UAE 109-49. while on Saturday, South Korea defeated the UAE 100-84 and the US devastated Qatar 105-38.
The annual William Jones Cup international basketball invitational tournament hosted by Taiwan returned this year after a three-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Launched in Taiwan in 1977, the tournament is named after British basketball promoter Renato William Jones, the first secretary-general of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA), the sport’s world governing body, a post he held for 44 years from 1932.
The Philippines’ Mighty Sports won the title in 2019, the last time the tournament was held. The US have won the most William Jones Cup titles, with 15 victories. Taiwan last won in 2004.
Robinson Cano spent 17 seasons playing in the MLB in front of all kinds of baseball fans, but he said there is something special about his stint with the Mexican Baseball League’s Diablos Rojos. He is not alone. The league last week opened its 100th season, aiming to keep an impressive growth in attendance that began after the national team’s surprise run at the 2023 World Baseball Classic, and is already surpassing some first-division soccer clubs. After finishing third in the 2023 tournament, many casual fans, some of them soccer enthusiasts disappointed after Mexico were eliminated in the first round in the 2022
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
Arne Slot has denied that Darwin Nunez was dropped from Liverpool’s win against West Ham because of a training-ground row with a member of his coaching staff. The Liverpool head coach on Sunday last week said that Nunez was absent from the 2-1 victory at Anfield, having felt unwell during training the day before, although the striker sat behind the substitutes throughout the game. Speculation has been rife that the Uruguay international, whom Slot criticized for his work rate against Wolves and Aston Villa in February, was left out for disciplinary reasons. Asked on Friday to clarify the situation, Slot said: “He
CUNNINGHAM CONNECTS: In the Eastern Conference, the Pistons snapped their record 15-game playoff losing streak by beating the Knicks to level their series at 1-1 Kawhi Leonard on Monday scored 39 points on 15-of-19 shooting as the Los Angeles Clippers evened their first-round NBA Playoffs series against the Nuggets with a 105-102 win in Denver. “It feels like he didn’t miss a shot,” James Harden said. “His shot-making ability is elite.” Good thing, too, because his teammates were a combined 26 of 66 for a 39 percent clip. “I made shots tonight,” Leonard said. “I just keep playing, try to stay in the zone no matter if I’m making or missing shots.” The fifth-seeded Clippers needed every bit of his brilliance to snatch the homecourt advantage in the series
RSS