Anyang KGC Ginseng, the 2022-2023 professional basketball champions, suffered their first loss in the 42nd William Jones Cup International 스포츠토토 after winning two straight games.
The Ginsengs fell 82-87 to UC Irvine on Friday afternoon at Heping Gymnasium in Taipei, Taiwan, in the third round of the tournament.
Ginseng, which is competing in the tournament for the first time in 11 years since 2012, defeated the United Arab Emirates National Team in the first round and the Iranian National Team in the second round, 100-84 and 84-72, respectively, but failed to win three straight games.
Foreign players Duvon Maxwell and Brian Griffin, who are only with the team for the tournament, had 24 points and 10 rebounds and 25 points and 8 rebounds, respectively, but it was not enough to prevent the loss.
Omari Spellman, Ginseng’s existing foreign player, did not play in this tournament as he was participating in the FIBA World Cup with the Lebanese national team, while Daryl Monroe will join the team after this tournament.
Seniors Park Ji-hoon and Bae Byung-jun also contributed with seven points and five assists and 12 points and four rebounds.
However, other players struggled with the athleticism of NCAA players.
In particular, guards such as Ko Chan-hyuk appeared to shrink under the opponent’s intense pressure, deepening Ginseng Corporation’s struggle to find a backup guard for Park Ji-hoon and Choi Sung-won.
The William Jones Cup is an international competition that has been held since 1977 in honor of Renato William Jones, one of the founders of the International Basketball Federation.
Nine teams from eight countries, including Ginseng Corporation, are participating in the men’s tournament, which will be held until the 20th, and the final winner will be determined by the number of points accumulated in each game.
Earlier, Busan BNK participated in the women’s tournament from May 5 to 9 and finished second (4 wins and 1 loss).
Ginseng Corporation will play the fourth game against a Japanese university selection team on the 16th.