The battle between the two high-power offenses was anything but electrifying in the early going, with the defense dominating in a low-scoring first quarter (17-15 in favor of the Hunters).
The Tigers' match-up zone against the Hunters' perimeter offense (holding them to under 30 percent shooting from the floor) was equally effective as the Hunters' conventional 2-1-2 zone defense against the Tigers' well-established three-point attack.
It was Chang's eight second-quarter points in the final minutes of the second quarter that led to a 35-33 Tigers advantage at the half.
The Tigers were able to add to their lead by five before the end of the third quarter (56-49), despite surrendering it earlier in the quarter with the Hunters opening the second half with a 14-7 run.
Some timely adjustments by Hunters coach Chou Hai-rong gave them a four-point lead with 53 second remaining. But a costly turnover by point guard Chen Hui cut the lead to two.
A 16-10 difference in turnovers harmed the Hunters, as they bag-ged their third loss in a row.
Bank of Taiwan 83, YMY 73
Bank of Taiwan fully exploited its speed and rebounding advantage over YMY for an 83-73 win.
Behind speedster Chien Ming-fu's game-high 17 points, most of which had come by way of the fast-break, the bankers opened up a double-digit lead (40-30) midway through the second quarter.
Even though YMY reduced the lead to five in the third quarter, sparked by sharp shooter Chung Wei-guo's pair of "threes," it could never come up with the knockout punch.
The 14th straight loss by YMY set a new league record for consecutive defeats, topping the previous mark of 13 that was also set by YMY (formerly the Sina Lions) last season.
Today's top Game
This afternoon's showdown between the Yulon Dinos and Taiwan Beer should pack the gym with hoop fans as the league-leading Dinos take on a red-hot brew crew.
Trailing the Dinos by only a half a game, a win by the second-place beermen would give them sole possession of the lead for the first time this season.
Gilbert Arenas was picked on Friday by National Basketball Association commissioner David Stern to replace injured Indiana forward Jermaine O'Neal for next week's All-Star Game, filling in on the Eastern Conference team.
"It's an honor. Thank you, David Stern," Arenas said.
The Wizards guard was perhaps the biggest omission on the East team when reserves for the Feb. 19 game in Houston were announced Thursday night. He ranked fourth in the league with an average of 28.2 points per game.
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