Tseng Wen-ding's 28-point, 11-assist night, including stunning slam dunks in front of a sellout crowd at the Taipei Physical Education College Gymnasium, earned him the Most Valuable Player honor in the Super Basketball League's All-Star game on Saturday night.
The veteran center for the Yulon Dinos helped the Scarlet Knights beat the White Knights in a 140-136 final to avenge last season's loss in the SBL's annual mid-season classic.
"My goal for the season is to take two of the three MVP's [the other two being the season MVP award and the championship finals' MVP honor] this year," Tseng was quoted in a local language newspaper after being selected by the press to this year's All-Star Game MVP. "I got one now and hope to win another from the championship finals."
The game began with the White Knights taking a slight 26-23, first-quarter lead in a rather loose manner, as players from both squads showed off moves that they would not dare attempting in a regular-season contest.
After playing to an even second quarter, the White Knights led the Scarlet Knights 55-52. The second half began with a run-and-gun Scarlet lineup that placed five speedy guards on the floor to outscore their counterparts 36-26 in the game-turning third quarter.
With the floor now open for more showboating moves and literally no defense being played by either squad, the fourth quarter was filled with numerous razzle-dazzle stunts, highlighted by game-high scorer Tien Lei's alley-oop.
In the slam-dunk contest, YMY rookie Chang Yu-lin backed up his "Spring Man" nickname with three perfect scores to run away with the title. His monstrous one-hand slam over a teammate sitting in front of the basket was the clincher for the budding star.
"I guess I got a little lucky there with some of the top guys sitting out of this year's contest," Chang said.
Slam dunk
Defending slam-dunk champ Tien did not participate in this year's competition, but was eventually lured by the crowd to show off his stuff.
And the crowd favorite disappointed no one with a thundering, one-hand throw-down that displayed a perfect combination of style and power.
three-point shootout
As for the three-point shootout, Lee Hsueh-lin of the Dinos beat out Tigers point guard Wang Chih-chuin 21-19 in the final round to take home the top honor.
Lee's mother was in attendance to witness her son wow the crowd with a fine effort that included making his final seven long-range bombs in a row as the crowd watched spellbound.
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