Taiwan and Korea continued to roll in the 2013 Jones
Cup, coming up with contrasting wins over Team USA and Taiwan B respectively.
Egypt and Lebanon both rebounded from opening day defeats, with the African
nation beating Jordan and the WABA powerhouse upending Japan.
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| Jet Chang returned to action to help Taiwan A overcome Team USA. (image from Da Village) |
In the first game of the day, the Egyptians
outrebounded and outshot the Jordanians for a dominant 89-65 win. Haytham
Khalifa spearheaded Egypt’s attack with 23 points while also grabbing 15
rebounds and getting 3 steals. Sherif Abdalla backed him up with 18 markers, 5
boards, and 3 assists, while the duo of Ibrahim El Gammal and Mohamed El Lethi
combined for 28 points on the strength of 5-of-9 3pt shooting. Jimmy Baxter was
once again Jordan’s scoring leader with 19 points on top of 5 rebounds, 2
assists, and 2 steals, while starting PG Wesam Al Sous hit 4 triples on his way
to adding 15 markers. Egypt moves up to 1-1 while Jordan slides to 0-2.
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| Haytham Khalifa lorded the shaded lane against Jordan. |
The second game featured the tough Lebanese playing
better basketball in the second half to run past the Japanese, 79-72. The WABA
side maximized its strong inside presence to rule the glass, 35-28, and block 3
shots to zero for Japan. Jean Abdel Nour continued to play well, leading the
Cedars in scoring with 21 points while Fad El Khatib had 18 markers.
Surprisingly, substitute PG Rodrigue Akl had the most rebounds for LIB with 9
while also dishing out 4 dimes. On the other end, Kosuke Takeuchi’s brilliant
19-point, 14-rebound effort went for naught as Japan sank to 0-2. Levanga
Hokkaido forward Daisuke Noguchi stormed the lanes for 14 points, but Takeuchi
got little help elsewhere. Usual reliables Daiki Tanaka, Kosuke Kanamaru, and
KJ Matsui collectively tallied 17 points on 3-of-11 shooting from downtown. The
Lebanese rise to 1-1 after the shocking Day 1 loss to Taiwan B.
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| Daisuke Noguchi challenges the defense of Jean Abdel Nour. |
In the third game, Taiwan A defeated the Americans in
front of a boisterous crowd, 89-84. Lin Chih-Chieh erupted for 30 points on
9-of-15 FG shooting to pace the home team, which also benefited from the 11
points, 11 rebounds, and 4 blcoks of Quincy Davis. Jet Chang saw action in this
one after missing his team’s first game, scoring 14 points in just 18 minutes
of play. Curtis Marshall and Eric Hicks paired up for 47 points for Team USA,
but they fell short in the end as the Taiwanese made the bigger plays. Taiwan
was grossly outrebounded, 35-57, but they more than made up for it by shooting
51% from the 2-point area while limiting the Americans to just a 35% clip.
Taiwan A goes up 2-0 while Team USA debuts in the loss column.
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| Lin Chih-Chieh's 30-point explosion led Taiwan A over Team USA. |
The day ended with the hometown Taiwan B youngsters
losing out to the very efficient Koreans, 81-60. Coach Yoo Jae-Hak’s wards
forced 20 Taiwanese turnovers and handed out 22 assists in a scintillating
display of defense turning into offense. Super sniper Cho Sung-Min led the
Koreans with 18 points on 7-of-12 FG shooting, while Lee Seung-Jun added 17
points, 8 rebounds, and 1 block. Young
slotman Kim Jong-Kyu also impressed with 10 markers and 7 boards. Versatile
22-year old 6’6 forward Zhou Boxun led Taiwan B with 15 points and 10 rebounds,
while Liu Cheng continued to hum with 13 markers and 4 thefts. Korea hikes its
slate to 2-0 while the young Taiwanese suffer their first defeat.
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| Kim Joo-Sung (L) and Ray Chen (R) fight for the loose ball. (image from Da Village) |
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| Lee Seung-Jun was practically unstoppable for Team Korea. (image from Da Village) |
2013 William Jones Cup Standings
Team
|
Wins
|
Losses
|
Taiwan A
|
2
|
0
|
Korea
|
2
|
0
|
Iran
|
1
|
0
|
Lebanon
|
1
|
1
|
Egypt
|
1
|
1
|
Taiwan B
|
1
|
1
|
USA
|
0
|
1
|
Jordan
|
0
|
1
|
Japan
|
0
|
2
|
BOX SCORES:
EGYPT over JORDAN, 89-65
EGY 89 - Khalifa 23, Abdalla S 18, El Lethi 15, El Gammal 13, Marei 8, El Sabagh M 5, Abou Shousha 4, Tawfik 3, El Sabagh A 0, Abdalla R 0, Abou Khadra 0
JOR 65 - Baxter 19, Al Sous 15, Bassam 11, Hadrab 5, Zaghab AJ 4, Al Faraj 3, Abu Ruqayah 2, Al Dwairi 2, Abdeen 2, Zaghab MA 2, Al Hamarsheh 0, Abu Quora 0
QS: 25-13, 37-26, 61-39, 89-65
LEBANON over JAPAN, 79-72
LIB 79 - Abdel Nour 21, El Khatib F 18, Stephan 13, Kanaan 11, Haidar 4, Ibrahim 3, Ammoury 3, Akl 3, El Khatib H 3, Mahmoud 0
JPN 72 - Takeuchi 19, Noguchi 14, Kanamaru 7, Sakurai 7, Ota 6, Matsui 6, Tanaka 4, Hiejima 3, Tsuji 3, Hinkley 2, Uda 1
QS: 23-20, 43-41, 58-53, 79-72
TAIWAN A over USA, 89-84
TPE A 89 - Lin 30, Chang 14, Davis 11, Tien 6, Lu 6, Yang 6, Chen 6, Hung 3, Creighton 3, Lee HL 2, Tsai 2, Lee TW 0
USA 84 - Marshall 24, Hicks 23, Kearse 12, Horton 9, Melvin 7, Awere 3, Dailey 3, Owens 2, Rougeau 1, Barnes 0, Bray 0
QS: 22-23, 42-36, 64-57, 89-84
KOREA over TAIWAN B, 81-60
KOR 81 - Cho 18, Lee 17, Kim JK 10, Moon 8, Park 8, Kim MG 8, Kim JS 8, Yoon 2, Kim SH 2, Yang 0, Choi 0, Kim TS 0
TPE B 60 - Chou 15, Liu C 13, Chen YC 8, Chang 7, Tsai 5, Liu YK 4, Chih 4, Lai 2, Lo 2, Chen HJ 0, Chiang 0, Hu 0
QS: 18-13, 44-27, 64-51, 81-60
Unless otherwise specified, all images are from
2013wjc.basketball-tpe.org.
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