Three games with thrilling finish yesterday staged the most exciting day of the tournament so far, although home team Taiwan had an off day. With the upset win over Russia, South Korea, which tied with Taiwan at 6-0, will look for their second Jones Cup title in today's last game vs. Taiwan.
Trailing 39-40 at halftime and as many as 14 points, Korean coach Choo Il-seung ordered a box-and-one defense to lock up Russian veteran PG Alexandre Chernov and pulled out an unbelievable comeback. Russia, whose offense focuses on three-point shooting, lost its second consecutive game while holding 10-plus leads in the second half of both games.
Oscar Simon made a key three-pointer with 50 seconds left to secure Philippines' 90-85 win over Honduras. Philippines tied with Russia at 4-2 and will meet today for the third place.
Mongolia received 29 points and 14 rebounds from 193cm star forward Tuvshinbayar Tygarvaa to beat South Africa 93-87 for its first win. Mongolia finished all games and ranked 7th in the tournament. South Africa lost all seven games and finished last at 8th.
■GAME SUMMARY
South Korea 83-80 Russia
SK - Jin Kyung-suk 20p ; Yoon Young-pil 19p ; Kim Kyung-rok 16p
RUS - Andrei Olbreht 18p, 4a ; Alexandre Chernov 16p, 4a ; Evgeni Shatokhin 16p
Philippines 90-85 Honduras
PHI - Christopher Clay 24p ; Jeffrey Flowers 29p, 12rb
HON - Pedro Ferron 27p, 17rb
Mongolia 93-87 South Africa
MGL - Tuvshinbayar Tygarvaa 29p, 14rb ; Dorjgotov Purevdorj 20p
SA - Thuso Moiloa 24p, 11rb ; Mariusz Mlodzinski 13p
■STANDING
Taiwan 6-0
South Korea 6-0
Russia 4-2
Philippines 4-2
Honduras 2-4
Canada 2-4
Mongolia 1-6
South Africa 0-7