Sina Lions run out of gas

Tseng Wen-ding of the Dinos scores two of his 20 points for the game against the LIons at the Taipei Sports Education Arena, Thursday night. PHOTO: SBL

The statement "speed kills" was clearly illustrated during the Yulon Dinos' series-opening 78-55 blowout victory over the Sina Lions Thursday night at the Taipei Sports Education Arena.

Head coach Chien Yi-fei's (錢一飛) strategy to play at a fast pace for the entire game ultimately wore down the aging Lions.

Led by Chen Hsin-an (陳信安), whose 18 points helped his team grab the critical series-opening win, the younger Dinos squad shook off some early-game jitters and confronted the Lions with more energy and pressure than the team had seen all year long.

The Dinos full-court press forced the Lions out of their half-court set and limited Lions veteran point man Chou Jung-san (周俊三) to just one lone assist for the game.

What allowed the Dinos to maintain the same level of intensity throughout the entire contest was their well-stocked bench.

Eight different Dinos players saw at least 15 minutes of action; that was compared to just six Lions.

After a decent first quarter, Lions big men Huang Chuen-hsiung (黃春雄) and Liu Yi-shiang (劉義祥) were completely neutralized by the Dinos frontcourt, combining for a season-low seven points and eight rebounds in the game.

"We really won the game with our defense tonight," Chien said after the game. "The solid defense then enabled us to take advantage of our speed in the transition game for some easy baskets."

The Lions managed to take a short-lived 25-18 lead after the first quarter with an unbelievable 10-0 run, but signs of fatigue set in and they surrendered the lead and went into halftime with a four-point deficit.

Then came the devastating third quarter where Dinos center Tseng Wen-ding (曾文鼎) busted loose and dominated the paint for eight of his game-high 20 points to put his team up by 21 points.

With the game seemingly decided by that point, neither team was able to generate any offense, ending the game with a low-scoring fourth quarter as the two teams combined for only 20 points.

Shooting guard Luo Hsin-liang's (羅興樑) 20 point effort was the lone bright spot for the Lions in the otherwise sloppy game.

"Perhaps playing three postseason games in five days has worn us down a bit," Lion assistant coach Hu Chung-chuin (胡忠群) said after the game. "During the second quarter, our big guys showed very little desire to engage inside the paint. That was our fatal flaw."