Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Taiwan loses to Korea in EABC semi

Taiwan lost to South Korea 69-61 in the semifinal of the 2011 East Asian Basketball Championship Tuesday in Nanjing, China.

Taiwan is scheduled to meet Japan in the bronze medal game of the qualifying tournament for the 2011 FIBA Asia Championship for Men, which will be held in Wuhan, Hubei, China from September 15-25, in a rematch Wednesday.

In the preliminary round, Taiwan beat Japan 75-74.

Taiwan trailed almost the entire game but was able to stay close. The halftime score was 35-28, Korea.

Lu Cheng-ju led Taiwan with 15 points while center Wu Tai-hao had 14. Chen Hsin-an and Chien Chia-hung added 10 apiece. Chien also pulled down 5 boards.

Kang Byung-hyun paced Korea, which was coached by former great Hur Jae, with a game-high 17 points, including five three-pointers. Yang Dong-guen had 13 points and five rebounds and Lee Seung-jun added 13 and 8. Oh Se-keun tallied seven points and 10 rebounds.

Korea, which will meet China for gold, outrebounded Taiwan 39-30.

Regardless of the final results, China, Korea, Japan and Taiwan have secured berths in the FIBA Asia Championship.