July 9, 2006
TAIPEI CITY, TAIWAN– Athletes in Action (representing the USA) defeated Korea 93-89 on the second day of the 28th William Jones Cup held at the Taipei Physical Education College Gym in Taipei City. New Mexico junior Tony Danridge led all scorers with 21 points in 24 minutes of play. Fellow Lobo, Daniel Faris added 12, while former Lobo Troy DeVries put in 13 along with Texas A&M’s Dominique Kirk. Josh Carter, also from Texas A&M, scored 14 points in the win.
Korea jumped out to an early 6-2 advantage before AIA went on a 19-4 run to take an eleven point lead. However, Korea chose to dial up the long distance shot all night long by taking 45 three pointers and making 15.
Luke Zeller of Notre Dame drained a three-pointer at the half-time buzzer to send the teams into the locker-room all tied at 44.
The difference in the game was the third period behind AIA’s smothering defense, creating countless fast breaks. Coach Mike Jarvis noted that “In the middle of the game, we made a good run and were able to get some easy baskets.” The result was a 15 point lead at the end of the period. To aid in the run, Zeller pulled down 13 rebounds, 6 of which were offensive boards, while Kirk dished out eight assists on the night.
The lead ballooned to 18 points at 86-68 before Korea again began hitting from behind the arc. With 45 seconds remaining, the margin had been trimmed to 91-87, but the defense managed a couple of stops in the final minute to neutralize the threat and play out the clock.
Jarvis added that “Korea was in total control in the first half. When we started to exert ourselves on defense, we played better on offense. Defense wins games.”
In agreeing with his coach, Danridge said, “I feel good about the win. We could have done better. We’ll meet and talk about press break and other things.” It was the Korean’s full court press that allowed them to take extra shots at the end of the game and helped to make it a close finish.
AIA is now 2-0 in the tournament and will face host and undefeated favorite Taiwan (Chinese Taipei) on Monday. AIA defeated the Australian Institute of Sport 70-51 in the opening game on Saturday.
Jones Cup Scores
Day 2
Australia 87, Kazakhstan 86
USA 93, Korea 89
Qatar 102, Japan 81
Chinese Taipei 77, Philippines 72
Day 1
USA 70, Australia 51
Qatar 68, Philippines 63
Korea 93, Kazakhstan 58
Chinese Taipei 113, Japan 70
Jones Cup Standings:
USA 2-0
Chinese Taipei 2-0
Qatar 2-0
Australia 1-1
Korea 1-1
Kazakhstan 0-2
Japan 0-2
Philippines 0-2