Japan flamed out in the East Asia Basketball Association Championship semifinals on Tuesday, falling 78-73 to Taiwan as turnovers and an anemic offensive performance left the hosts looking for somewhere to hide in Nagano.
Taiwan's Quincy Davis III proved too much for Japan's frontline to handle as the U.S.-born veteran scored 28 points, 18 in the first half, while the hosts failed to muster any sort of consistent play on either end of the court.
Earlier, South Korea won a 106-104 thriller against China to set up a final matchup with Taiwan, Jeon Jun-beom playing hero by hitting a pull-up jumper with 4 seconds left in overtime.