Perth Wildcats routed Taiwan NT 100-74 Tuesday night and finished with a perfect 4-0 record after the first round in the APB tournament, which will enter another single round robin second round.
LG Sakers of Korea, Niigata Albirex and Taiwan NT all finished 2-2 but were ranked in a No.2 - 4 order after the point margin comparison. San Miguel Beermen of PBA was eliminated after dropping all four games.
Paul Rogers made 11 of 12 shots en route to a 24-point, 7-rebound night to lead a balanced attack as the Wildcats overwhelmed the host in the last 30 minutes. Lin Chi-jay led Taiwan with 12 points. Yue Yin-li and Tsun Wen-din each scored 11 points while Lee Hsueh-lin had 10.
Niigata beat San Miguel 97-84 in the final preliminary game to win its second straight game after dropping the first two. The Japanese team was able to hold off San Miguel's rally mostly because of its 12-for-27 three-point shooting.
Jonathan Sanders had 22 points, 13 rebounds and 9 assists for Niigata, which also had 14 points from veteran Makoto Hasegawa.
Dorian Pena had 22 points for the Beermen, whose acting head coach Chot Reyes (head coach of the national team) opted to rest Danny Siegle and Donald Hontiveros in the game because both of them and Pena will join the national team for a tournament in Palau starting Aug. 18.
The tournament enters the second round phase Wednesday. Top two teams of the second round will play for gold while the other two will meet for the third-place on the final day, Aug. 19.
Aug. 13 results:
Niigata 84-81 LG
Perth 89-70 San Miguel