Taipei, Dec. 7 (CNA) Two students from the Caribbean country of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines made their debut this week as the first foreign players in Taiwan's top collegiate basketball division.
As of Tuesday, Craiglee Sam, 23, and Cregg Friday, 21, of Ming Chuan University had helped their school to a 1-1 start in its first two games in the preliminary round of the University Basketball Association Division 1 competition.
Sam and Friday have made history not only as the first foreign players to appear in the UBA Division 1, but also as the first foreign students to receive sports scholarships from Ming Chuan University in 2009.
The two players are from the Grenadine island of Bequia and are both majoring in tourism at Ming Chuan University, which has campuses in Taipei and Taoyuan cities.
Sam, who is 198cm tall, had eight points and nine rebounds in his first Division 1 game Sunday, which Ming Chuan lost 80-54 to defending champion National Taiwan Normal University.
In his second game Monday, Sam scored three points and grabbed nine rebounds to help Ming Chuan to its first ever victory in a Division 1 game -- a 60-50 win over Taipei Physical Education College.
Friday, who also stands 198cm, had 18 points, 15 rebounds and an impressive eight blocked shots in the two games.
The pair led Ming Chuan to a fourth place finish in the UBA Division II last year as freshmen. The school was promoted this year to Division I, which has been expanded from 12 to 16 teams.
Sam has won several Most Valuable Player awards in his home country and received an American basketball scholarship from Portland Community College in 2007. He spent a year in the United States before returning to his hometown.
Sam's cousin Alexus Foyle, also of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, played last year in Taiwan with the Taiwan Mobile Leopards, one of the seven professional teams in the Super Basketball League, Taiwan' top basketball competition.
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is one of Taiwan 23 diplomatic allies. (By Chris Wang) enditem /pc