Kazakhstan weather Chinese Taipei surge to book first win

CHANGSHA-HUNAN (2015 FIBA Asia Championship) - Kazakhstan weathered a second half surge from Chinese Taipei to book their first win of the 2015 FIBA Asia Championship, 84-73.

Kazakhstan started this game like a house on fire, outgunning their foes, 25-7, in the first period, but Chinese Taipei trimmed the deficit to a more manageable 12 points at the half. Chinese Taipei last threatened with about a minute left to cut the deficit, 78-71, but coach Vitaliy Strebkov’s wards proved to be up to the task and successfully kept their East Asian opponents at bay till the final buzzer.

Anatoliy Kolesnikov scored 17 points and hauled down 7 rebounds for the victors, while Jerry Johnson and Dmitriy Klimov added 14 and 12 points respectively. Former SBL MVP Liu Cheng paced Chinese Taipei with 21 points off the bench. Choach Chou Jun-San’s squad struggled to keep the bigger Kazakhs off the glass and got outrebounded, 53-46.

Turning Point: After Tseng Wen-Ting hit a jump-shot to trim the deficit to just seven points with 1:21 to go, Kazakhstan responded by way of veterans Rustam Yargaliev and Anton Ponomarev, each of whom hit a triple to end the game on a 6-2 mini-run that sealed the win.

Stats Don't Lie: The Kazakhstan defense was on-point in this contest, forcing 19 turnovers from Chinese Taipei. The Kazakhs’ aggressiveness also came to fore, and it forced Chinese Taipei to commit 26 fouls that led to 26 free throw attempts for the winners.

Game Hero: Anton Ponomarev was a tower of strength in this affair, recording a sublime double-double line of 18 points, 14 rebounds, 5 steals, and 2 three-pointers. He outplayed Chinese Taipei’s naturalized big man, Quincy Davis, who fouled out after tallying 13 points and 8 boards.

The Bottom Line: Both countries entered this game needing to win badly after losing on day one. Kazakhstan, however, came out of the gates with more energy and even led by as many as 20 points. This bodes well for them as they take on the Lebanese tomorrow, while Chinese Taipei hope to beat Qatar to preserve their chances of advancing to the second round.

FIBA