Taiwan’s men’s A team last night defeated their counterpart B team 82-77 in their first showdown in the William Jones Cup at New Taipei City’s Sinjhuang Gymnasium.
With four wins under their belt, Taiwan’s A squad — also known as the blue team, consisting of the national team’s main roster — lead the tournament, while Malaysia and the Philippines Strong Group-Pilipinas, who were not scheduled to play last night, are both undefeated with three wins each.
Taiwanese-American teenager Robert Hinton, playing in his first William Jones Cup, led the scoring early in the first quarter, putting up nine points for the A team to edge their compatriots 25-21.
Photo: CNA
Hinton’s brother, Adam Hinton, scored 11 points in the second quarter, but it was not enough to hold back the surging B squad, also known as the white team, who took a 45-40 lead powered the P.League+’s No. 1 draft pick, Mouhamed Mbaye. He put up eight points in the quarter, while Sung Hsin-hao and Lin Yan-ting each scored five points.
Mbaye, a National Chengchi University student from Senegal, on Friday was chosen by the Taipei Fubon Braves in the draft, becoming the first pick of the P.League+’s draft for the second year in a row.
In the second half, Han Chieh-yu opened up with two points and Brandon Gilbeck put up three to tie the game 45-45 before retaking the lead in the third quarter, with nine points from Adam Hinton.
Photo: CNA
The A team then carried that lead to an 82-77 victory, with Adam Hinton leading the scoring with 21 points, while Gilbeck grabbed 19 rebounds.
On Monday, Gilbeck racked up 22 points as the blue team outplayed the US’ Future Sports 82-76. The US native, who this month signed a contract to become Taiwan’s third naturalized basketball player, grabbed 17 rebounds and had three assists in more than 27 minutes on court, while Chen Ying-chun scored 20 points with six assists.
Chen led Taiwan with 17 points, four assists and three rebounds in their 85-65 victory over Japan on Saturday, the first day of the Cup.
Ma Chien-hao, playing his second William Jones Cup, scored 17 points in their 83-58 win over Ukraine on Sunday.
Taiwan’s B team started the tournament with a loss, after they were edged 84-79 by Malaysia, despite Mbaye scoring 26 points.
The white team on Sunday grabbed a confident 89-59 victory over the United Arab Emirates, with Mbaye leading with 21 points.
In yesterday’s early game, Ukraine dominated Australia’s BSBL Guardians 98-57, giving them their first win in the tournament, after losing to Taiwan’s A team and falling 82-74 to the Philippines on Monday.
Ukraine’s 2m-tall Oleksandr Kobzystyi, who plays for Serbia’s KK Mega Basket, led with 15 points yesterday, while Anatoliy Shundel had six assists and Rostyslav Novitskyi had five rebounds, three assists and eight points, seven of which he scored in the first quarter.
In yesterday’s second game, John Wesley Murry II put up 12 points in the first quarter for Malaysia to take an early 32-16 lead over Future Sports, which they at one point stretched to a nearly 50-point lead, before winning 109-67. Murry, a 1.96m American who plays for Malaysia’s NS Matrix, ended the game with 26 points, five assists and nine rebounds in his more than 25 minutes on the court.
In the night’s other game, Japan survived the United Arab Emirates 82-78.
Additional reporting by CNA
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