Japan finally got a win, Team USA ended the tourney
on a bright note, and Taiwan upset nemesis South Korea on Day 9 of the 2013
Jones Cup.
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| Quincy Davis was unstoppable against the Koreans. (image from Da Village) |
In the first game of the day, the Japanese finally
caught a break after blowing by Taiwan B, 96-81. Team Hayabusa finally showed
the game it was capable of playing, outscoring the younger Taiwanese, 51-34, in
the middle two quarters to take firm control of the game and never look back.
Kosuk Kanamaru continued to wax hot, hitting 4 triples on his way to a
team-high 20 points, while teener big man Yuta Watanabe mightily impressed with
18 points and a whopping 14 rebounds. He also had 3 assists and 3 steals in
more than 33 minutes of play. Makoto Hiejima also did well with 18 markers while
Kosuke Takeuchi contributed 16 points in under 20 minutes of action. Not
surprisingly, Liu Cheng led the Taiwanese quintet with a game-high 22 points on
top of 8 rebounds and 3 steals, while compatriot Lai Kuo-Wei scored all 18 of
his points from downtown, connecting on 6 of his 11 three-point tries. Japan
and Taiwan B both ended the tournament with 1-7 slates.
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| Kosuke Takeuchi puts a move on TPE's Tsai Chun-Min. (image from the JBA) |
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| Daiki Tanaka shoots over Liu Cheng. (image from the JBA) |
The second game of the day featured the Americans
using a string fourth quarter finish to whip the Jordanians, 81-71. Team USA
was down 4 entering the final frame, but they found their marks and were able
to rally for their fifth straight win after dropping their first three
assignments. Jordan, meanwhile, fell to 3-5 even as the projected starting
backcourt duo of Mahmoud Abdeen and Wesam Al Sous combined for 6 triples and 30
points. Al Sous hit 5 of his 10 three-point attempts, while Abdeen added 3
assists and 3 steals. Big man Ibrahim Bassam also did well for Al Nashama with
13 points on 6-of-8 FG shooting. Naturalized player Jimmy Baxter struggled for
Jordan with just 8 points on 3-of-14 FG shooting. On the other end, Eric Hicks
registered 18 markers and 5 rebounds on 8-of-13 shooting from the floor, while
Marcus Melvin hit three treys on his way to 13 points. Ed Horton and Jermaine
Dailey also contributed significantly to the W with 10 points apiece. Team USA
failed to duplicate its impressive run last year, when they were narrowly
defeated by Gilas Pilipinas in the title-clinching game on the last day of
competition.
The day ended with Taiwan upending an age-old nemesis
in South Korea, 73-60. Naturalizes player Quincy Davis was on beast mode,
recording 26 points, 17 rebounds, and 3 blocked shots to plainly dominate the
interior. Frontcourt partner Tien Lei turned back the clock to score 21 points
and grab 6 boards while hitting 3 triples. The hometown five was red hot from
the get-go, leading 20-8 after 10 minutes and putting up a commanding 33-17
spread at the half. Coach Yoo Jae-Hak’s boys never recovered from that first
half blitz. Only seasoned veteran Cho Sung-Min scored in double-digits for
Korea with 18 points, while usual reliables Kim Joo-Sung, Lee Sung-Jun, and Kim
Jong-Kyu were limited to 7-of-19 FG shooting. Backcourt stars Yang Dong-Geun
and Kim Sun-Hyung played very limited minutes here, combining for only 17
minutes of burn. Taiwan settles for a third-place tie with Egypt and Team USA,
while Korea settles for second spot right beside champions Iran, which has now
won 4 of the last 5 Jones Cup tourneys.
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| Tien Lei saved his best for last against rival Kim Joo-Sung and old nemesis South Korea. (image from Da Village) |
2013 William Jones Cup Standings
|
Team
|
Wins
|
Losses
|
|
Iran
|
8
|
0
|
|
Korea
|
6
|
2
|
|
Egypt
|
5
|
3
|
|
Taiwan A
|
5
|
3
|
|
USA
|
5
|
3
|
|
Jordan
|
3
|
5
|
|
Lebanon
|
2
|
6
|
|
Japan
|
1
|
7
|
|
Taiwan B
|
1
|
7
|
*Iran beat Lebanon by default as the Lebanese pulled out from the
competition due to their internal struggles.
BOX SCORES:
JAPAN over TAIWAN B, 96-81
JPN 96 - Kanamaru 20, Watanabe 18, Hiejima 18, Takeuchi 16,
Tanaka 6, Ota 6, Tsuji 4, Noguchi 3, Matsui 3, Kikuchi 2, Kurihara 0
TPE B 81 - Liu C 22, Lai 18, Zhou 12, Chang 9, Chen YC 9, Hu
4, Lin 2, Chen KC 2, Chih 2, Tsai 1, Liu YK 0, Lo 0
QS: 16-15,
36-30, 67-49, 96-81
USA over JORDAN, 81-71
USA 81 - Hicks 18, Melvin 13, Horton 10, Dailey 10, Kearse
9, Marshall 9, Barnes 5, Owens 4, Awere 2, Rougeau 1, Vanlandingham 0
JOR 71 - Abdeen 15, Al Sous 15, Bassam 13, Baxter 8, Hadrab
7, Al Dwairi 5, Abu Ruqayah 4, Al Najjar 2, Zaghab MJ 2, Shaher 0, Abu Quora 0
QS: 23-10,
41-33, 53-57, 81-71
TAIWAN A over KOREA, 73-60
TPE A 73 - Davis 26, Tien 21, Tsai 10, Lin 9, Tseng 2, Lee 2,
Chen 2, Lu 1, Yang 0, Ke 0
KOR 60 - Cho 18, Kim TS 9, Lee 8, Kim JS 8, Kim JK 5, Kim SH
4, Kim MG 4,, Yoon 2, Choi 2, Yang 0, Moon 0, Park 0
QS: 20-8,
33-17, 54-40, 73-60
Unless otherwise specified, all images are from
2013wjc.basketball-tpe.org.
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