Taiwan's national basketball team on Thursday was stunned by Guam during a crucial two-game qualifying tournament held in the U.S. territory this week for the FIBA Asia Cup 2021.
The men's national team lost to Guam 77-72 in the first of two games being played at the University of Guam's Calvo Field House in the town of Mangilao, where the winning team will clinch the last qualifying spot for the Asia Cup.
Coming off a rough run against Asian powerhouse China and heavyweight Japan during the qualifier's previous window held in the Philippines, Taiwan showed improvement in the first half of its matchup against Guam, making it rain and bringing Taiwanese-style basketball to the hardwood.
After tip-off, good control, solid screens and fast breaks allowed Taiwan to move the ball coast-to-coast and find the bucket from the perimeter, while Guam tried to do its damage in the paint by playing low block post.
Both teams put up a hard fought third quarter with Guam taking a 57-54 lead after a three-pointer buzzer beater from Guam forward Tai Wesley.
With Guam in the lead for most of the last quarter, Taiwan struggled to connect its jump shots as the clock counted down to the final buzzer.
Taiwan team captain and guard Ray Chen (???), who was missed by fans during the previous window, was nearly unstoppable in the first half leading all scorers with 24 points, including sniping 4-8 from beyond the arc.
Guam center Jonathan Galloway recorded the only double-double of the game with 12 points and 16 rebounds.
At the postgame press conference, Taiwan head coach Charlie Parker said despite the loss, his team still has an opportunity to qualify.
"We got to win by six points and it's a new day. We still have our opportunity, there's a lot of corrections we have to make, particularly defensively," Parker said.
The final game of the qualifiers will be played on Saturday with the team that either wins both games or scores most points in the two games combined advancing to the Asia Cup.
Taiwan's national basketball team have competed in 17 consecutive Asia Cups since 1985 and is one of only eight teams to have qualified for over 20 editions of the tournament.
Meanwhile, Guam, which has proven to be one of the hottest teams in the qualifiers, is aiming to make history by qualifying for their first ever Asia Cup.
The winning team will join Australia, Bahrain, China, Iran, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, South Korea, Lebanon, New Zealand, Philippines, Syria, Saudia Arabia, and India in Jakarta in July 2022.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel