SHOOTING woes early on continued to hound Rain or Shine until its final game in the 42nd Jones Cup as the Elasto Painters bowed against newly-crowned champion University of California-Irvine, 115-61, Sunday at the Taipei Heping Gymnasium.
Like in their previous games, the Elasto Painters again struggled from the floor opposite the US NCAA Division 1 team, converting just a single basket out of their first 20 attempts, while going 0-for-10 from three-point region.
The cold start had the team trailing by as many as 26-6 after the opening period as it never really got into a rhythm on the way to the 54-point blowout.
Compounding the woes of the Elasto Painters was the ejection of import Nick Evans at the 4:56 mark of the first quarter after shoving a player of University of Irvine for an unsportsmanlike foul, and later a technical foul for getting in a verbal altercation with coach Russel Turner.
It was already a 30-point deficit for Rain or Shine by halftime.
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Andrei Caracut was the lone player in double figures with 14 points for the Elasto Painters, who finished with a 2-6 record and could end up either at seventh or sixth place depending on the outcome of the match between Iran and Chinese Taipei-B
Both the Iranians and the Team B of the host country have similar 2-5 cards.
Rain or Shine beat Iran, 98-90, in double overtime, but lost to Chinese Taipei-B, 89-79.
University of Irvine meanwhile, completed an eight-game sweep of the tournament to win the championship, with Derin Saran leading all scorers with 23 points, and Emilis Butkus and Devin Tellis adding 18 and 16, respectively.
The California-based University whipped Chinese Taipei-A, 95-80, on Saturday to wrap up the title.
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Following the loss, the Taiwanese fell to a two-way tie with Korean Basketball League (KBL) champion Anyang KGC at 6-1. The two teams clash late Sunday to determine the runner-up finish.
Qatar finished fourth with an even 4-4 record, followed by United Arab Emirates at 3-5.
The Elasto Painters are set to return home on Monday evening.(RG)
