THA - World University Games - Men's wrap

BANGKOK (World University Games) - Finland, Greece, China and Israel all gave themselves a good chance of progressing into the second phase of the the World University Games in Bangkok by claiming their first wins in the men's preliminary group stages.

Finland moved to the top of Group E with an 81-62 victory over Chinese Taipei, thanks mainly to a 30-point haul from Lee Gerald.

The Scandinavian side were made to work hard for the two points thanks to a second-half comeback from their Asian opponents, driven by Sheng-yao Liu's 19 points.

Greece claimed top spot in Group F after a convincing 79-62 win over Kazakhstan.

Ioannis Giannopoulos' outfit raced into a 26-9 lead at the end of the first quarter and never gave their rivals chance to recover.

A further 21 points in the third quarter, compared to Kazakhstan's 12, wrapped up the victory despite the best efforts of top scorer Anton Ponomarev, who sank 26 points.

China also took advantage of a solid first quarter to brush aside Group G rivals South Africa, 72-53.

An 18-4 lead at the end of the first period proved to be enough as they failed to lose the upper hand in any of the remaining three quarters.

Meanwhile in Group H, Israel proved too strong for Korea and claimed a 78-72 victory to leave Australia languishing at the bottom of the table with one game remaining.

Drew Williams
FIBA