Taipei, Sept. 29 (CNA) Taiwan beat the Philippines 81-64 in the quarterfinal of the FIBA Asia U18 Championship for Men Wednesday in Sanaa, Yemen to advance to the tournament's semifinals for the first time in four years.
Taiwan, which will play either Japan or South Korea in the semifinals, will at least duplicate its fourth place finish in 2006 and have a chance to surpass its record in the biennial tourney -- silver medal finishes in 1972 and 1989.
Defensive-minded Taiwan limited the Philippines to 38 percent field goal percentage, including 1 for 12 behind the three-point line, and controlled the boards (46-33) for the victory. On the offensive end, Taiwan had five players scoring in double-figures as Hu Lung-mao paced the team with 13 points and 13 rebounds, and Chen Ying-chun also contributing 13 points.
"I think the boys were nervous early on. But once we found our rhythm, there was no stopping us, " Taiwan head coach Huang Wan-lung was quoted as saying on the FIBA Asia website.
Taiwan closed out the third quarter with an 8-2 run before scoring the first six points in the fourth to put the game away, leading by 17 with five minutes remaining.
The top three teams in the tournament will represent Asia in the 2011 FIBA U19 World Championship, which will be played in Latvia from June 30 to July 10, 2011. (By Chris Wang) enditem/bc