NAGANO (EABA Championship 2017) - Chinese Taipei may have started the EABA Championship 2017 slow, but they ended it on a golden note after beating Korea for their first ever in the tournament's history.

Korea kicked the Final off quite strongly, leading by 5 at the end of the first quarter, but the Taipei quintet shifted into high gear in the second and third periods to enter the final frame leading, 63-51. Coach Chou Chun-San's wards did not let up and cruised to their third straight win, 77-64, after dropping their first game against China.

Following his up his dominant performance in the Semi-Final against Japan, naturalized center Quincy Davis registered another eye-popping stat-line in the Final. The 2.03m slotman scored 21 points, hauled down 13 rebounds, had 2 steals and blocked 1 shot to spearhead Taipei's charge, while former SBL MVP Liu Cheng provided additional scoring punch by tossing in 23 points.

Chinese Taipei outworked the Koreans on the glass, 44-39, while also forcing 16 Korean turnovers on the back of 10 steals.

This is a promising sign for Chinese Taipei, who are hoping to make a big splash in both the FIBA Asia Cup 2017 in August and the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Asia Qualifiers in November.

As for Korea, Heo IlYoung and Lee JongHyun scored 18 and 13 points respectively in their losing cause. This is Korea's first loss in the EABA Final after winning the first three editions of the competition.

FIBA