Back-to-back victories over the Videoland Hunters and the Sina Lions in last weekend's play brought the once-struggling ETTV Antelopes back to life and into playoff contention as they boosted their record to 9-10 with 11 games remaining in the regular season.
Friday's 88-81 overtime win against the second-placed Hunters provided a huge emotional lift for the Antelopes .
In Sunday's contest, the Antelopes took on the role of the predator as they exploited a short-handed Lions' squad that was missing its center Liu Yi-shiang, who was out with an injury, winning 82-52.
The Lions' interior defense was no match for the Antelopes' All-Star center Wu Dai-hao, who chalked up up 17 points, eight rebounds and four blocked shots.
Guard Yang Yu-ming led all scorers with 19 points.
The Lions (2-17) were winless for the week.
HUNTERS 85, TAIWAN BEER 80
Sinking four of the last six shots from the charity stripe, the Hunters turned back a tenacious rally by Taiwan Beer to preserve the 85-80 win.
Lin Chih-jeh and Ho Sho-cheng both had big games, scoring 27 and 25 points, respectively. But their inability to work together on offense in the final minutes of the game led to hurried shots and bad passes.
"I wish some of our guys would not hog the ball as much as they did," Taiwan Beer coach Yen Jia-hua said after the game. "Putting up bad shots also hurt us."
Yulon 92, Bank of Taiwan 73
Close play in the first half against the Bank of Taiwan on Saturday prompted Yulon Dinos coach Lee Yun-kuan to put all his regular starters back into the game.
His intention to rest the starting five during most of the first half might have offered false hope to the bankers as they played the Dinos to a 37-35 halftime lead.
The Dinos would quickly regroup to pour in 52 points during the second half, their second-highest point total in a half for the year, to pull away with the 92-73 triumph.
Dinos 73, Tigers 72
In their weekend finale against the Dacin Tigers, the Dinos broke the 72-72 tie with 2.8 seconds left to play with Lee Hsueh-lin's free throw.
The second-year guard intentionally missed the second free throw to deny the Tigers a chance for a set play following the shot, giving the defending champs a nail-biting 73-72 win.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB