Friday, July 06, 2007

Jones Cup Day 4: Taiwan upset Lebanon in OT


Lin Chih-jay made a three at the buzzer to take the game into overtime.

Another day. Another banked-in three-pointer at the buzzer. There's definitely something weird with this year's Jones Cup tournament.

Lin Chih-jay banked in a game-tying three at the buzzer with two Lebanese defenders in his face to force overtime. And Tsun Wen-din scored underneath on an offensive rebound off a Chen Hsin-an miss with 0.3 second left in the extra session as Taiwan upset previously undefeated Lebanon 78-77.

There has been something magical in this year's tournament, especially when it came to three-pointers and the last shots.

Rony Fahed banked in a three at the buzzer to help Lebanon beat Philippines 65-62. Lin banked in a three to take the game into overtime tonight. South Korea's Kim Dong-woo also banked in a three to tie the game vs. Qatar one the opening day before Kim Min-soo tipped in a winner for a 70-69 win.

Also on Day 1, Jordan beat Kazakhstan 63-61 on Ayman Idais' backdoor layup with 2.5 seconds left. On Day 3, Yusuke Okada scored the winning fastbreak layup off a steal with one second left as Japan upset Philippines 86-84

Lebanon was ready to embrace its fourth straight win with 8.8 seconds left in regulation when Fadi Khatib stepped on the free-throw line. All he had to do was to score one more point to ensure the win. However, Khatib missed both and gave Taiwan a last chance.

Lee Hsueh-lin pushed the ball and dished to Lin, who popped out from a screen to the right wing and released the high-arching desperation although he was sandwiched by two Lebanese defenders.

Led by frontcourt tandem of Tsun Wen-din and Wu Dai-hao, Taiwan led by as many as 15 points in the game. Things changed after both players got into foul trouble in the final quarter. Relentless attack by Khatib and Joe Vogel helped Lebanon to pull ahead with two minutes remaining.

Both team had a hard time to score in the overtime due to fatigue. With 15 seconds left to play, Taiwan had one last chance to pull off a victory as Chen Hsin-an was designated for the last shot. Chen didn't take the ball to the basket, however, choosing to shoot a three instead. As defenders focused on Chen, Tsun Wen-din grabbed the offensive rebound and scored the winning layup with 0.3 second left.

TWN: Tsun Wen-din 19p(7-14 FG)+13rb+4a+2blk, Wu Dai-hao 14p(7-9 FG)+5rb+4a+3blk, Chen Hsin-an 13p, Yang Che-yi 11p, Lin Chih-jay 8p
LEB: Fadi Khatib 33p(11-24 FG, 8-12 FT), Joe Vogel 18p+14rb, Ali Mahmoud 9p+5a

-- Philippines 88-84 South Korea

Once again, the outcome of the game came down to the last minute for the Philippines. And they seized the opportunity this time.

Gabe Norwood, who came from George Mason University, had a game-clinching power dunk with 10.5 seconds left to give the Philippines a comforatble six point lead, and eventually a 88-84 victory over South Korea.

The Philippines ended its two game slide and is is back in the tournament as six teams tied with a 2-2 record after four days of action.

PHI: Mark Caguioa 19p, Donaldo Hontiveros 14p, Gabe Norwood 12p, Asi Taulava 7p+7rb
KOR: Kim Dong-woo 20p, Kang Byung-hyun 16p+5a, Kim Min-soo 14p+6rb, Kim Seung-hyun 9p+7a+4s

-- Jordan 69-66 AIA

Rashiem Wright, an American who obtained Jordanian citizenship, scored 8 points in the last 2:22 to lift Jordan to the top of the standing with three wins and one loss.

JOR: Rashiem Wright 20p+4rb+4a, Islam Abbas 13p+8rb, Osama Daghles 10p, Ayman Idais DNP
AIA: Brian Asbury 14p, Reed Rawings 12p, Donald Sloan 10p

-- Iran 86-59 Japan

Iran limited Japan to 2 for 23 in three-point land.

IRN: Afagh Eslamieh 22p+7rb, Aidin Nikkah Bahrami 12p, Javad Davan 10p+7a, Moosa Nablpoor 12p, Hamed Hadadi DNP
JAP: Shohei Kikuchi 20p, Yosuke Machida 10p

-- Qatar 80-70 Kazakhstan

Yasseen Ismail Musa scored a tournament-high 35 points.

QAT: Yasseen Ismail Musa 35p(12-18 FG, 11-14 FT), O.A. Salem 13p+10rb, Saad Abdulrahman Ali 6p+13rb
KAZ: Anton Ponomarev 23p+13rb, Rustam Yargaliyev 12p, Alexandr Tyutyunik 11p

-- Standing:
Jordan 3-1
Lebanon 3-1
AIA 2-2
Iran 2-2
Qatar 2-2
Philippines 2-2
South Korea 2-2
Taiwan 2-2
Japan 1-3
Kazakhstan 1-3