Luke Zeller's 12 rebounds for AIA marked his second straight game with 10-plus rebounds.

Athletes In Action Improve To 3-0 At William Jones Cup With 86-83 Victory Over Chinese Taipei

July 10, 2006

Taipei City, Taiwan – With six seconds remaining in a tied game, Athletes In Action executed perfectly on a play that allowed Josh Carter ofTexas A&M todrain a three-pointer from the left corner to win 86-83 and remain unbeaten in the 2006 William Jones Cup. Texas A&M teammate Dominique Kirk received the inbounds in the back court and penetrated the lane before dishing it out to carter for the game winnerand silencingan over-capacity and deafening home crowd at the Taipei Physical Education College Gym.

Again, AIA started out quick with a 7-0 run in the first 3 minutes of the game, but the crowd came alive allowing Chinese Taipei to have their own 15-2 run over the next four minutes.The Taiwan national teamcontrolled the pace of the game for much of the second period and closed the half with a four point lead (40-36). Troy DeVries drained his first four three-point attempts and Christian Moodyof Kansas pulled in eight rebounds (five offensive) in the first half to keep the game close while others struggled from the floor.

Chinese Taipei maintained the lead until 2:53 remained in the third period when Dominique Kirk snatched a defensive rebound and threw a touchdown pass to JaRon Jefferson (Montana State) who fed Tony Danridge (New Mexico) who converted a three-point play giving AIA a 1-point lead at 53-52.

The lead continued to grow in the fourth quarter reaching 13 points (74-61) with 5:44 remaining when clock malfunctions caused a brief delay in the game. When action restarted, AIA missed a free throw and then allowed Taiwan to go on a 14-1 run and tie the game with 3:09 to go.

The game remained within three points the rest of the way. Taipei converted two free throws with 52 seconds on the clock to tie the game at 83 and then missed a long range three pointer that bounced over the backboard and gave the ball back to the Americans with 6 seconds left. After three consecutive timeouts, a sagging defense gave Josh Carter just enough room to disappoint the home-town heroes and their fans. After the game, Josh told the media, “I’m glad I made it. They were tough and I don’t know if we could have beat them in overtime.”

Taiwan’s head coach Yun-Kung Lee said, “This was a very good game. They played very tough defense in the 4thquarter and we made some defensive mistakes. I knew Carter would hit the shot in the corner. Today, God helped the US in the game.” AIA head coach Mike Jarvis added, “I give credit to Taiwan. They did not stop playing. I give my team credit for finding a way to win in a difficult environment. It’s tough to beat the home team on their court.”

The local media asked Coach Jarvis where he could take the Taiwan National team if he were the coach. In reply, Jarvis said, “I would want to be his [Yun-Kung Lee, Taiwan’s head coach] assistant.”

For the game, Moody finished with 11 rebounds and seven pointswhile Troy DeVries ended with 23 points and was 6 for 10 from behind the arc. Josh carter scored 20 points while Dominique Kirk added 10. In all, nine ofeleven AIA players scored while only six players put points on the board for Taiwan.

Athletes in Action will play Qatar on Tuesday at 5PM. Qatar is the only other unbeaten team in the field after defeating Kazakhstan 87-78 on Monday.

Note: Game recap provided by Peter Warden of Athletes In Action.

Jones Cup Standings

AIA 3-0

Qatar 3-0

Australia 2-1

Taiwan 2-1

Korea 2-1

Kazakhstan 0-3

Japan 0-3

Philippines 0-3

Day 3 Results

Qatar 87, Kazakhstan 78

Australia 95, Japan 90

Korea 96, Philippines 88

AIA 86, Chinese Taipei 83

Day 4 Schedule (Tuesday)

Japan vs. Korea 1PM

Philippines vs. Australia 3PM

Qatar vs. USA (AIA) 5PM

Kazakhstan vs. Taiwan 7PM