As expected, the young and inexperienced Taiwan NT was shell-shocked in its international debut, losing to Australia 67-107 in the first preliminary game of East Asia Game in Osaka, Japan.
Though totally outplayed by the Australians, Taiwan NT shows some glimpse of the future. 193cm wing guard Chen Hsin-an led with 13 points while incoming college freshman Tien Lei (201cm, F) had 11 points and 6 rebounds in his international competition debut. Tien's fast-break dunk wowed the crowds, even the Australians.
Taiwan NT's real game will not begun until today when they face dark horse Kazakhstan, who shocked South Korea earlier and is Taiwan's primary roadblock onto the final four.
■Game Summary
5/19
Kazakhstan 121-92 South Korea
KAZ - Andrei Shpekht 31p ; Vitaliy Strebkov 30p
KOR - Son Gyu-wan 27p
Australia 105-77 China
AUS - Brett Maher 25p ; Glen Saville 18p ; Darryl McDonald 6p, 10a, 5s ; Matthew Nielson 15p
CHN - Yao Ming 18p, 6rb in 18 min ; Wang Zhi-zhi 15p
Japan 129-68 Mongolia
JPN - Takuya Kita 27p...7 Japanese players in double-digit
5/20
Australia 107-67 Taiwan
AUS - Paul Rogers 23p, 12rb ; Benjamin Melmeth 14p...56% team FG%
Taiwan - Chen Hsin-an 13p ; Tien Lei 11p, 6rb...RB 31-64...35% team FG%
China 131-52 Mongolia
CHN - Yao Ming 20p, 9rb ; Wang Zhi-zhi 16p, 5rb ; Chang Wen-chi 19p ; Du Feng 17p
MGL - Tserenjanhar Sharavjamts 37p
Japan 100-76 Kazakhstan
JPN - Kazuhiro Shoji 20p ; Satoru Furuta 17p, 9rb
KAZ - Andrei Shpekht 19p ; Vitaliy Strebkov 21p
■Standings
Japan 2-0
Australia 2-0
China 1-1
Kazakhstan 1-1
Taiwan 0-1
South Korea 0-1
Mongolia 0-2