Two days down, but there's a lot of basketball action left at the 2015 William Jones Cup. Day 3 of competition will feature the battle between superpowers Iran and Japan at 3:00 p.m (Local Time) while the Philippines is looking for a second win in a row against regional rival South Korea starting at 5:00 p.m.
Chinese Taipei and a team composed of community college standouts from the United States (USA Select-Overtake) will wrap up Monday's schedule at Xinchuang Gymnasium, New Taipei City.
Iran vs. Japan
Iran continues to show their dominance in Asian basketball as they opened their Jones Cup campaign with two big wins over South Korea 77-44 and Chinese Taipei-B 88-66. Former Memphis Grizzlies center Hamed Haddadi remains a force inside the shaded lane, but he's getting help from Iran's star-studded supporting cast led by Samad Nikkah Bahrami and Mehdi Kamrani.
Japan, on other hand, is coming off a blowout loss to USA Select-Overtake 91-76 after losing its opening game against Chinese Taipei 84-82 in overtime. Daiki Tanaka and Kiejiru Matsui are expected to lead a very wily Japanese squad against the 6-time Jones Cup champ Iran.
Philippines vs. South Korea
Philippines will enter the game against their Asian rival South Korea in high morale following their stellar win over Chinese Taipei A. After squandering a 19-point first half lead, Smart Gilas regained their composure in the 4th quarter and staved off one final push from the Taiwanese down the stretch. Filipino spitfire Terrence Romeo was the star of the night, scoring 18 markers (including a big trey in the closing minutes) and breaking ankles with his lightning quick crossovers.
South Korea, meanwhile, looks to recover from two straight losses at the hands of Iran and a Russian professional team. It's quite surprising to see the Koreans struggling to get buckets the past two games, yet everybody expects them to come all out against their bitter rival.
Taiwan vs. USA Select-Overtake
Taiwan dropped to 1-1 slate following their loss to the Philippines. On Monday, they will have the opportunity to test a very young USA team, who is fresh from a huge victory over Japan. All eyes will be on Lin Chih Chieh, the leader of this Taiwanese team. Lin has been filling up the stats sheet in the first two games, but it will be interesting how he will fare against more athletic defenders of this US squad.
Live Stream, Replay & Boxscore Information: Games on Day 3 of William Jones Cup 2015 can be watched on Sports5.ph or on its youtube channel. Statistics and boxscore information are available on the tournament's website. Williams Jones Cup 2015 wiki page provides infor on standings and schedule.
William Jones Cup 2015 Live Stream & Boxscore Stats Day 4: Phillippines vs. Russia (CPM Sakhalin), Iran vs. New Zealand, South Korea vs. USA - Link 1