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| FIBA |
By Ivan Saldajeno
TEHRAN--Chinese Taipei pulled an 88-74 upset against Batang Gilas in their FIBA Asia U18 Championship opener early Saturday (Philippine Time).
A 19-0 run was all the Taiwanese team needed to repulse the Filipinos in the final game of Day 1 of the youth basketball tournament.
After a close first quarter, Chinese Taipei went on the game-turning rally in the second to open a 40-20 lead. They would stretch the lead to as high as 26 later in the game.
Batang Gilas somewhat made the game interesting in the fourth as they went on a 18-4 rally to cut the lead to 12, 83-71, with 3:09 remaining.
But a triple from Kao Kou-Hao in the ensuing possession iced the game for the Taiwanese side.
Kao finished with 16 points to lead four Taiwanese players in double figures along with six rebounds, three assists, and one steal, while Tseng Hsiang-Chun flirted with a double-double with nine points and 13 rebounds with one assist, five blocks, and one steal.
Jonas Tibayan led Batang Gilas, which shot only 39 percent of their shots, with 15 points, six rebounds, one assist, and one steal.
Box Scores:
Chinese Taipei 88-Ting 16, Kao 16, Hsieh 12, Chou 10, Tseng 9, Li 6, Chang 6, Chen 5, Jian 5, Wang 2, Wu 1, Huang 0
Philippines 74-Tibayan 15, Gallego 9, Lee 9, Bahio 8, Mendoza 7, Yu 7, Sinclair 6, Madrigal 3, Mamuyac 3, Flores 3, Cariño 2, Pagsanjan 2
Quarterscores: 19-18, 49-29, 70-45, 88-74
Follow him on Twitter: @IvanSaldajeno
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