By REYNALD MAGALLON
Another slow start spelled doomed to Rain or Shine anew as Chinese Taipei B came away with an 89-79 victory in 2023 William Jones Cup at the Taipei Heping Gymnasium here on Sunday, Aug. 13.
The Elasto Painters put up a huge fourth quarter rally, cutting a once huge 21-point deficit to single digits but was not enough to prevent them from dropping to a 0-2 record in the standings.
The Filipinos fell into the same traps of their loss to Chinese Taipei A, allowing the relatively young Taiwanese squad to build a sizable margin in the opening frame – a mistake that eventually haunted Rain or Shine until the final horn.
Taiwanese-American Adam Hinton led the way for the hosts with 17 points built on three triples while Ting Jhao Jian fired 15 points.
Sin Kuan Lin and Chien Hao Ma also chipped in 13 apiece.
Ange Kouame paced the Elasto Painters with 15 points and nine rebounds while Nick Evans and Gian Mamuyac had 11 each.
Unlike in the first game, Rain or Shine did show some fight as after trailing by as many as 21 points, 21-42, in the second quarter, it cut the deficit down to just 11, 31-42, following a 10-0 blast spearheaded by Kouame and Mamuyac.
Chinese Taipei, though, regained their footing and managed to protect a 17-point advantage, 54-37 at the half.
The Filipinos would try to make a desperate run midway through the final frame, unleashing a 14-3 spurt that allowed them to come within nine, 69-78.
That, however, would be the closest Rain or Shine could get as fouls and free trips to the foul line allowed the hosts to survive the scare and keep the Filipinos at bay.
“It’s actually a big improvement from yesterday but the same pattern, yung bad first quarter, bad start. Hindi natin makuha yung good start na hinahanap natin,” said head coach Yeng Guiao.
“‘Yung pinakita namin sa second half yun yung gusto namin na fight back actually nanalo kami sa second half, kinapos lang,” he added.
Taiwanese-American Adam Hinton led the way for the hosts with 17 points built on three triples while Ting Jhao Jian fired 15 points.
The scores:
Chinese Taipei B (89) – Hinton A. 17, Jian 15, Lin 13, Ma 13, Hinton R. 9, Ahmadou 8, Chen 3, Chiang 1, Sun 0, Lan 0, Chen 0, Wang 0.
Rain or Shine (79) – Kouame 15, Mamuyac 11, Evans 11, Demusis 10, Belo 9, Santillan 9, Nambatac 8, Caracut 4, Clarito 2, Norwood 0, Belga 0, Ponferrada 0.
