Canada Drop Opening Game in the William Jones Cup
Canada did not get the result they wanted when they got their 2019 William Jones Cup campaign underway in Changhua City in Taiwan.
Representing Canada in the latest edition of the annual basketball tournament are the U Sports team UBC Thunderbirds. They succeed the 3D Global Sports team, who won the 2017 and 2018 editions of the tournament - meaning there was already pressure on the team to make it a three-peat of championships.
Canada's first of eight fixtures saw them take on Chinese Taipei White, one of two teams native to the host nation. They got off to a good start, leading their opponents by six points at the end of the first quarter. However, Chinese Taipei White's close-range offence, led by Lin Tingqian and Chen Yurui, saw them close the gap to two at the half.
Making use of their accuracy from beyond the arc - they had sixteen three-pointers in the game - Canada were able to hold on to the lead, but only just. In the final quarter, a late surge from Chinese Taipei White saw them take the game to overtime.
Canada seemingly had nothing left in the tank when the game went to the extra period, with Chinese Taipei White leading the OT scoring by 14 points to 6, capping off the win with a final result of 92-84.
Manroop Clair led the Canadian team with 21 points, while double-doubles were seen from both Mason Bourcier (19 points, 10 rebounds) and Patrick Simon (10 points, 13 rebounds). Lin led the scoring in the game with 24 points, while three of his Chinese Taipei White teammates finished in double digits in their victory.
Other day one results saw the second home team, Chinese Taipei Blue, in a thriller against Japan they won by two points, 77-75. Meanwhile, South Korea saw off Jordan by a small margin, 69 points to 64, while early favourite Mighty Sports Philippines had the most decisive result of the day, beating Iran 98 points to 72 to take them top of the leaderboard at the end of day one.
Canada have plenty of time to make up for their opening disappointment, and they will look to do so on day two of competition when they will take on Indonesia. Check back here for regular updates on their progress, while full details of the tournament and all games can be found on the official William Jones Cup website.
Picture: Oliverchronicle.com
