CHINESE TAIPEI avoided a similar fate from three years back, beating Jordan 78-64 in the qualification to the quarterfinal phase of the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup on Monday evening at the King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
The two teams also faced in the same knockout stage in the 2022 edition of the Asia Cup which ended with a memorable Freddie Ibrahim three pointer at the buzzer to cap off a fourth quarter Jordan comeback.
READ: China, Iran join Australia, New Zealand in Asia Cup quarterfinals
It was almost deja vu for the East Asian squad as Dar Tucker powered a 13-3 Jordanian rally to bridge the third and fourth quarter and trim Chinese Taipei’s lead to just three, 63-60.
Luckily for them, Ying-Chun Chen regained his touch just in time to save the day and exact sweet revenge from that heartbreaking defeat three years back.
Struggling since his 34-point explosion vs. Gilas Pilipinas, Chen fired back-to-back three pointers to give Chinese Taipei a 69-60 lead with a little under five minutes remaining in the game, halting Jordan’s momentum for good while sparking his team's strong finish.
Chen finished with 15 points, four rebounds and five assists as Adam Hinton once again took charge in scoring with 18 markers.
Naturalized player Brandon Gilbeck continued to lock down the paint for coach Gianluca Tucci as he finished with seven blocks to go along with his 12 rebounds and nine points. Gilbeck and the rest of Chinese Taipei now take on Iran in the quarterfinals set on Wednesday.
Tucker finished with 20 points for Jordan who will miss out on an Asia Cup quarterfinals for only the second time in two decades.
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