Luo Hsin-liang's buzzer-beating three-pointer forced the game into overtime for YMY, but it was not enough to carry them past the Yulon Dinos as YMY took the tough 91-85 loss in Sunday's afternoon matinee at the Taipei Physical Education College Gymnasium.
Against a Dinos club without its top center Tseng Wen-ding (nursing a sore ankle), YMY showed no signs of inexperience as they attacked the ball whenever possible, causing the defending champs to turn the ball over 19 times.
The 12 points allowed by YMY in the second quarter were among the lowest point output by the Dinos in the past two seasons, which was too close for comfort for Dinos coach Lee Yun-kuan.
"We learned a lot about ourselves today in terms of where we need to improve," Lee said. "A-Ding's [Tseng] absence was a factor, but that's no excuse for our letting YMY hanging around in the game."
The game began with the Dinos playing a fast-paced first quarter that helped build a 10-point lead (27-17) over YMY at the end of the quarter. Then came YMY, with a series of outside jumpers in a 23-point second quarter to take the lead by a point (40-39) at the half.
Neither team managed to secure a big lead in a hard-fought second half, with the defending champs grabbing the lead with a long three-pointer from reserve center Wei-Yong-tai with under 30 seconds to play.
With time expiring, YMY was able to grab a key rebound off a missed Dino's free throw and advance the ball up the court on a long pass to Luo for the game-tying "three."
The game was all Dinos in overtime, as they scored six straight to open the extra session, a cushion too big for YMY to overcome.
Hunters 77, Taiwan Beer 76
In a game dominated by scoring runs from both teams, the Videoland Hunters ultimately held off Taiwan Beer to escape with a 77-76 win Sunday evening.
Seven combined "threes" by the two juiced-up offenses led to a high-scoring first quarter (26-21 in favor of Taiwan Beer).
An 11-2 run by the beer crew mid-way through the second quarter helped them build a 14-point cushion, only to see the Hunters answer with a 21-3 run of their own to claim a 42-38 halftime advantage.
The Hunters doubled their lead to eight points after three quarters of play before the beermen's Lin "the Beast" Chih-jeh took over in the final quarter with 17 points (32 points for the game) to pull his club within one of the Hunters.
Trailing 77-76, Taiwan Beer had a chance to win the game with Lin driving to the basket in the closing seconds.
But a questionable no-call by the referee after Lin had apparently drawn a foul from Hunters defender Lee Chi-yi, left Taiwan Beer without a decent shot, falling a point short at the final buzzer.
Forward Lin Tsong-ching led the victorious Hunters with a career-high 28 points, followed by utility man Yang Tseh-yi's 18 and Lin Jia-huang's 11 to round out Videoland's double-digit scorers.
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