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Dacin Tigers climb comeback trail

Dacin Tigers Tien Lei, left, crashes the hoop against Bank of Taiwan's Yueh Ying-li in Super Basketball League action at the Taipei College of Physical Education Gymnasium on Saturday. The Tigers defeated the Bank of Taiwan 91-70. PHOTO COURTESY SBL

Storming their way back to title-contending form, the Dacin Tigers have won five straight in the past two weeks to trail the Super Basketball League-leading Yulon Dinos by only two games in the latest standings.

After dropping a heartbreaker to the Bank of Taiwan by an 88-82 final on Jan. 14, the big cats have won five in a row, including impressive victories over first-tier teams such as the Dinos and Taiwan Beer to prove their legitimacy -- making their three-game losing streak in early-January a distant memory.

"This game is all about momentum," Tigers coach Liu Jia-fa said. "We lost it for awhile back in January, but now we got it back."

The Tigers' 3-0 week began with a buzzer-beating, come-from-behind win over Taiwan Beer on Friday, thanks to guard Chang Chih-fong's three-point shot just before time expired.

Then they pilfered the bankers in a 91-70 ahead of Sunday's 96-86 triumph over the last-placed YMY.

Team icon Tien Lei's amazing offensive outbursts, averaging nearly 35 points over the three-game span, has been the main reason that the Tigers have enjoyed such tremendous success.

His 45 points in Sunday's contest was a new season-high for the Most Valuable Player in the past two seasons, surpassing his previous mark of 37, set on Friday.

Chang's recent surge, highlighted by his career-high 30 points in Sunday's game, also played a critical roll in the Tigers' latest roar.

Taiwan Beer 88, Antelopes 83

Taiwan Beer's Lin "The Beast" Chih-jeh proved his All-Star status with a 36.3 points-per-game average that helped his club to a 2-1 week.

Other than Friday's late-game letdown that ultimately led to the Tigers' last-second miracle, Lin and his brew crew have played head-and-shoulder above the rest of the league in the past two weeks.

Sunday's 88-83 win over the ETTV Antelopes was a perfect sequel to the beermen's narrow 88-85 win over YMY on Saturday, which was won with 37-for-47 shooting from the free throw line.

The brewers came out firing on Sunday by taking a 21-15 first-quarter lead before ending the first half with a comfortable 45-31 cushion.

After Taiwan Beer widened the gap to 20 points early in the third quarter, the Antelopes then put together a serious comeback that got them within four of Taiwan Beer (76-72) before the beermen sealed the win with a clutch three-pointer and a series of free throws by Lin in the game's closing minutes.

Veteran guard Yang Yu-ming's season-high 34-point night was the lone highlight for the Antelopes.

Hunters 77, Dinos 83

Chou Shih-yuan's 10 points in the third quarter (26 for the game) in Sunday's matchup against the Videoland Hunters sparked a fierce rally by the Yulon Dinos in the second half that turned a four-point, halftime deficit into an 83-77 win for the defending champs.

Reserve center Wu Chih-wei came off the bench and contributed 13 points, including six straight in the final two minutes of the game, to help his team fend off a vicious Hunters comeback and keep its three-game winning steak intact.

Sound three-point shooting (8-for-18) kept the Hunters in the game during the first half, but they went cold in the third quarter.

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