Chang Chih-fong's ball-denying defense against big man Lai Guo-hung completely neutralized the Videoland Hunters' low post attack in the second half of Game 3, lifting the Dacin Tigers past the Hunters in the 65-62 in their series-clinching win on Sunday.
After losing Game 1 of the series 102-99 last Friday, the big cats took two straight from the Hunters in the best-of-three series to advance into the championship round, where defending champs, the Yulon Dinos, await them with the league's most potent lineup.
Unlike the two previous contests where the offense had dictated the pace of game in a pair of high-scoring affairs, Sunday's game was extremely slow, with both clubs running a controlled half-court offense.
With the right to advance in the playoffs on the line, neither team wanted to make any unforced errors, as the Tigers led 17-15 after one quarter of play.
The second quarter was all Lai of the Hunters doing serious damage inside the paint, as the veteran center scored 17 of the 19 Hunters' points in the quarter, easily handling every Tiger defender that was assigned to guard him.
Needing to shut down Lai, Tigers coach Liu Jia-fa asked his top defender Chang Chih-fong, despite Chang's height disadvantage (a 16cm height differential), to contain the Hunters' inside threat by denying him the entry pass.
And Chang promptly responded by holding Lai to just three points from the middle of the third quarter after he had rung up 25 points in the first half.
"I guess because of the big height difference, Lai really couldn't figure out which side I was going to favor on defense. Maybe that's what was actually bothering him," Chang said after the game.
With Lai being taken out of their offensive scheme, the Hunters managed to score only 14 points in the third and fourth quarters, allowing the Tigers to take a six-point lead with under a minute to play.
Even though Lee Chi-yi of the Hunters then hit a key three-pointer to pull his team within three points of the Tigers and the Hunters actually had possession of the ball for the last shot in the game, poor clock management by the Hunters in the final seconds ultimately cost them the game.
Lai left the game mid-way through the fourth quarter on a controversial offensive-charge call that could have gone either way when he knocked down Chang while driving strong to the hoop. Had he remained in the game, the Hunters may have had the last laugh.
"There couldn't have been a better acting job on that charge call," Hunters coach Chung Chih-mong said after the game. "The refs really screwed us with that lousy call."
Game 1 of the best-of-five championship round between the Dinos and the Tigers will begin Thursday at 7:30pm at the Taipei Physical Education College Gymnasium.
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