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Sunday, September 02, 2007
Jiangsu, Shangdong win opening games in Straits Cup
Straits Cup was held in Miaoli.
Shangdong guard Sun Jie had 23 points in the first game vs. Taiwan Beer.
Wu Dai-hao played his first game in a TB uniform.
Jiangsu head coach Hu Weidong, former China NT star forward.
Jiangsu Dragons and Shangdong defeated their Taiwanese opponents in the opening day of the 2007 Straits Cup tournament, a mini tourney featuring four teams from both sides of the Taiwan Straits.
Led by Sun Jie's 23 points, Shangdong beat defending SBL champion Taiwan Beer 86-72 while Jiangsu pulled away in the second half and beat Dacin 95-79.
Sun Jie scored 18 of his 23 points in the first half, when Shangdong displayed its awesome outside shooting and led 50-36 at the half. Zhao Yonggang made six threes in the game and finished with 20 points. Guard Wang Gang had 15.
Shangdong made 60% of its 3-PT field goals in the game and shot 56 percent as a team.
Taiwan Beer looked rusty and was never in a rhythm in the entire game. Wu Dai-hao scored 15 points in his TB debut. Yang Chin-min, who also played his first game with TB, had 6 points. Lin Chih-jay had 11 points and 12 rebounds.
Yen Hsin-shu, who came out of retirement and signed with China's Yunnan Running Bulls, did not score and had three turnovers in 15 minutes of action. Yen had a long way to go to get back to game condition after three years away from basketball.
In the second game, Jiangsu had no problem dealing with short-handed Dacin as the Dragon used a 21-4 run in the third quarter to open up the game. Starting poing guard Hu Xuefeng had a game-high 30 points, 6 assists and 5 steals while Meng Da added 25 points.
Dacin dropped it first game under new head coach Chiu Da-tsun, who coached Jiangsu during his days in the China's CBA. But it's hard to blame them as four Dacin starters -- Tien Lei, Chang Chi-feng, Su Yi-chieh and Yang Yu-min -- all missed the game due to injury.
Wang Chih-chun pace Dacin with 16 points. Lee Fong-yong had 13.
Jiangsu finished third in the CBA last season with a 23-7 record. Shangdong ranked fifth with 19-11.