
By Jay Leon Guerrero
The Bank of Guam Men’s Basketball Team came back in the second half and pulled off a 77-72 victory over the visiting Team from Chinese Taipei to take the first of two games in the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifier Thursday at the Calvo Field House.
Tai Wesley led Team Guam in scoring with 23 points and nine rebounds but it was the younger players from Guam that provided that much needed spark offensively to secure the victory in the fourth quarter.
Takumi Simon had the biggest game of his international career to help team Guam overcome a 12 point deficit against the visiting team from Taipei. Simon had 18 points, making 4-of-6 shots from beyond the arc, to help secure the victory.
The Chinese Taipei guards were finding holes in Guam’s defense to get small openings and hit shots from the perimeter. Ting-Chien Lin and Ying-Chun Chen combined for 34 points in the first half to put Taipei ahead 45-38 by halftime.

After some adjustments, Team Guam quickly chipped away at their deficit and eventually took the lead at the end of the third quarter with Wesley hitting a 3-pointer at the buzzer to go ahead 57-54.
After sitting for a majority of the game due to foul trouble, starter Chris Conner entered the final period and scored seven straight points and Guam went ahead 64-59.
Taipei ties the game behind the shooting of Chi-Wei Lee with three minutes left and the game was deadlocked at 68-68. Daren Hechanova hits a jumper with 2:21 left and Guam is up 70-68.
Taipei ties the game up 70-70 but Guam goes back up 71-70 with a Jonathan Galloway free throw. Guam regains possession after an offensive foul committed by Taipei and momentum is suddenly in Guam’s favor.
Tak secures the W
Simon closed the game out for Guam hitting a jumper and a 3-pointer to put Guam up for good. The sharp shooter from St John’s hit a mid-range jumper to go up 73-70 with 54 seconds left and later hit a 3-pointer with 30 seconds left to put the nail in the coffin.
“I was eladed by the performance of these younger guys,” said Wesley. “Takumi, Chris, Mark (Johnson) and Tomas (Calvo) all stepped up tonight,” said Wesley. “From having a bad first half and stepping up in the second half was huge for us.”
“This game was a good opportunity for our younger players to be battle tested. They may not have as much experience but they showed me tonight that they are ready to go against a well-respected international team,” said Guam’s head coach EJ Calvo.
“I give credit to Team Guam and the players that stepped up for players who were not here or not playing due to Covid. It’s like the next man up and they did an excellent job of that,” said Taipei head coach Charles Henry Parker.

“It was huge game for us to win on our home turf but we have a lot more to do,” said Calvo. “Saturday we are going to make some adjustments but the important thing for us to get some much needed rest.”
Taipei’s Chen had a game high 24 points; Lin had 22 points before exiting in the third quarter due to an injury.
“We hope he (Lin) can be back for the next game. He was having a good game offensively up to that point,” said Parker.
“We have to make our adjustments for the next game and look at some film. We only scored nine points in the third quarter so I think we need to just have more confidence for the next game,” said Chen.
Galloway had a double-double for Guam with 12 points and 16 rebounds. Guam out-rebounded Taipei 48-33.
Saturday’s game is at 2pm at the Calvo Field House. Both teams are vying for the last slot in the FIBA Asia Cup.
“We have to make our adjustments particularly defensively. We got to win by six points; its a new day so we still have our opportunity,” said Parker.
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GPS Sports Calendar
February 2023
- SU
- MO
- TU
- WE
- TH
- FR
- SA
Events for January
1st
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
ISA BOYS BASKETBALL
Events for February
2nd
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
ISA TRACK & FIELD MEET
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL
IIAAG TENNIS LEAGUE
Events for February
3rd
ISA TRACK & FIELD MEET
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
TRITONS BASEBALL INVITATIONAL PLAYOFFS
Events for February
4th
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL
Events for February
6th
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL
ISA BOYS BASKETBALL
Events for February
7th
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL
IIAAG TENNIS LEAGUE
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL
Events for February
8th
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
ISA BOYS BASKETBALL
Events for February
9th
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
ISA TRACK & FIELD MEET
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL
IIAAG TENNIS LEAGUE
Events for February
10th
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
ISA TRACK & FIELD MEET
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL
TRITONS BASEBALL INVITATIONAL FINALS
Events for February
12th
MONSTER ENERGY MOTOCROSS ROUND 2
Events for February
13th
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
ISA BOYS BASKETBALL
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL
Events for February
14th
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
IIAAG TENNIS LEAGUE
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL
Events for February
15th
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS
ISA BOYS BASKETBALL
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
Events for February
16th
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
ISA TRACK & FIELD MEET
IIAAG TENNIS LEAGUE
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS
Events for February
17th
ISA TRACK & FIELD MEET
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
Events for February
18th
BLACK HISTORY MONTH 2K/5K
World Athletics Cross Country Championships
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
Events for February
20th
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
ISA BOYS BASKETBALL
Events for February
21st
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
IIAAG TENNIS LEAGUE
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL
Events for February
22nd
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
ISA BOYS BASKETBALL
Events for February
23rd
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
IIAAG TENNIS LEAGUE
Events for February
24th
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL QUARTERFINALS
Events for February
24th
Events for February
25th
Events for February
27th
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS
ISA BOYS BASKETBALL SEMIFINALS
ISA GIRLS SOCCER SEMIFINALS
Events for February
28th
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL FINALS
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE SEMIFINALS
IIAAG TENNIS LEAGUE
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL SEMIFINALS

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