NEW TAIPEI CITY (Chinese Taipei) - The Taoyuan Pilots inch closer to a perfect Group Phase run after defeating NS Matrix Deers, 85-63, Sunday at the Xinzhuang Gymnasium.
The Pilots are now comfortably in first place of Group A with a 4-0 record. Meanwhile, the Deers are still winless with only one more opportunity left for a win in Mongolia next window.
The Pilots showed no signs of fatigue from playing an exciting clash against Pelita Jaya yesterday. Riding the wave of a 13-0 run the home team extended their lead to 20 points early in the second quarter.
"I'm happy for the win," said Coach Caminos. "I think that from the beginning, we set a good tone on defense.... first half we controlled the game really well."
The Deers put their fighting spirit on display to start the second half. The Malaysian side were able to cut the lead down to as close as 14, but it was ultimately not enough to get them close their first victory.
"I thought it was a decent game, a decent effort from everybody. You’re not going to make all of your shots so that’s not what we base our performances on. We base our performances on being a hard-nosed team. I think we did that in spurts a decent amount of the game, but when a team is this good, all it takes is two or three minutes of a lapse and it could turn a three point game into a fourteen point game."
Alec Brown continues to be on fire, leading all players with 20 points in this game. Jarrod Jones, however, had a more dominant performance overall with a double-double of 19 points, 16 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals. He'd end up with an EFF rating of 30. Li-Sheng Chen was also effective for the Pilots, going for 12 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists.
Julian Boyd matched Jones with a double-double in his debut, going for 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Coach Sealy's squad had three players score in double-digits in Marquez Letcher (18 points), John Murray (15 points), and Yi Hou Wong (10 points).
"For me, we came here trying to get a win," said coach Sealy. "... We didn’t attain the goal that I thought we could achieve. I knew it was an uphill task, I’m a bit disappointed because I don’t like losing, but my team gave the best effort. It just wasn’t good enough tonight.
"They’re a very talented team, well-coached team, and it’s difficult to beat talent when talent comes to play. We played hard, but it wasn’t good enough."
The Pilots had already controlled the lead late in the fourth quarter, but Brown wiped away any chance of the Deers gaining momentum as he threw down a highlight alley-oop jam.
Taoyuan will play the final game of their home-stand against Bishrelt Metal on April 29 at 5:00 PM GMT+8 in an attempt to stay undefeated.
"Metal are really a resiliant team," said Caminos of their upcoming opponents. "... We need to understand that it’s not going to be an easy game."
Meanwhile, the Deers search for their first win continues on May 11 in the next window of games in Mongolia.
FIBA
