Taiwan NT, who lost two starting point guards to injury and opened the Jones Cup with three consecutive losses, finally beat Philippines, 79-70, tonight. 19-year-old SG Chou Shi-yuan had 7 points in the decisive run in early 4th quarter and sparked Taiwan to the victory.
Chou Shi-yuan, the former HBL(High School Basketball League) MVP, had 15 points in 22 minutes to knock out the Philippines, who also lost their starting PG Alex Compton early in the 2nd quarter to sprained ankle and was out of sync the rest of the game.
Taiwan head coach Lee Yun-kwang, who was blasted by local media these days, breathed a sigh of relief after the first win. Lee hopes Taiwan NT can keep improving before the upcoming Asian Games in Pusan, South Korea, although they have been stripped of any title hope in the Jones Cup.
200cm forward Lee Chi-yi had his best game so far, scoring 18(4-9 3PT) and pulled down 9 rebounds. Losing Compton, the heart and soul of the team, Philippines was led by Eddie Laure's 20 and 8.
Phil Scherer and Michael Melnychuk's two three-pointers in the last 5 minutes lifted Canada past Russia 74-70 in a hard-fought game. Canada proved why they won the CIAU champion this year in winning consecutive game in last minutes. Canada trailed 30-40 in the half tonight.
In Tainan, SINA pulled out two runs, 11-2 and 12-0, in the second half to record another come-from-behind win, beating South Korea 81-71. SINA is now 3-1 and probably put one feet in the final. South Korea is 1-2, including 1 win and 2 losses in Tainan.
Australia's head coach Tom Wisman, who coached Japan's Isuzu, used his familiarity of Japanese basketball to lead Great Mates over Japan NT 92-79. Australians controlled the boards, 41-25, and quickly put the score out of reach behind the strong attack of Walter Brown, who had 20 and 8 in the game.
*Game Summary
(@Cheng-kung Univ. Gym, Tainan)
SINA 81-71 South Korea
SINA - Huang Chun-hsiung 22p(10-13)+9rb, Lai Kuo-hong 13p+9rb, Lo Hsin-liang 18p
Kor - Cho Sang-hyun 19p, Jung Hun-jong 16p, Lee Kyu-sup 14p+6rb
Australia 92-79 Japan
Aus - Walter Brown 20p+8rb, Dave Simmons 15p+6rb
Jap - Takuya Kita 28p, Takashi Shinohara 17p
(@TPEC Gym, Taipei)
Taiwan 79-70 Philippines
Tai - Lee Chi-yi 18p+9rb+3s+2blk, Chou Shi-yuan 15p, Wu Chi-wei 10p, Tien Lei 10p+6rb+5a, Chen Hsin-an 7p
Phi - Eddie Laure 20p+8rb, Billy Mamaril 11p+9rb, June Simon 9p, Romel Adducul 8p+10rb, Jefferey Flowers 6p+6rb
Canada 74-70 Russia
Can - Phil Sudol 13rb
Rus - Alexandre Chernov 26p
*Standings thru July 17
Australia 4-0
SINA 3-1
Canada 2-1
Japan 2-2
Philippines 1-2
Taiwan 1-3
Russia 1-3
South Korea 1-3