Back-to-back victories over YMY and the ETTV Antelopes at the Taipei Physical Education College Gymnasium over the weekend extended the Yulon Dinos' winning streak to three straight as they opened a one-and-a-half game lead over second place Taiwan Beer in the Super Basketball League standings.
The defending champs easily handled YMY on Saturday in a 118-98 rout and followed it up with a 91-81 win against the Antelopes on Sunday.
Versatile forward Chou Shih-yuan's 28-point night, with 9-for-15 shooting from the field, led a Dinos attack that showed no weaknesses against the Antelopes.
The Dinos top perimeter threat also made all five of his free throws for the game.
The game started with the Antelopes playing the heavily favored Dinos shoulder-to-shoulder to end the first quarter in the lead 20-14.
The Dinos managed to add just one point to its lead to close out the first half 43-36.
Chou's 11 third-quarter points helped the Dinos take a double-digit lead in the third quarter.
The Antelopes played a relatively solid game, going 30-for-62 from the floor, while keeping the number of turnovers to 11.
But against the league-leaders, a decent outing is not good enough to pull off a win as the Antelopes dropped their fourth in a row.
Taiwan Beer 101, YMY 84
Taiwan Beer earned a a postseason berth with a 101-84 win over YMY on Sunday.
The brew crew is known for upsetting top-caliber teams in the playoffs.
Taiwan Beer coach Yen Jia-hua gave all 12 of his players time on the court while keeping playing time for his starters to under 28 minutes, with reserves Pan Ren-teh and Luo Jien-chih had 11 and seven points, respectively.
Four different players scored in double-digits for YMY, led by power forward Hsieh Chih-wei's team-high 20 points in a losing effort as YMY suffered the 21st straight defeat of the season.
Bank of Taiwan 109, Hunters 87
A 23-3 run by the Bank of Taiwan in the third quarter broke open an otherwise closely played game against the Videoland Hunters, paving the way for the bankers' eventual 109-87 blowout win.
Guard Jien Ming-fu's return after a two-game suspension electrified the atmosphere as the shortest player in the SBL at 163cm froze the Hunters with no-look passes on a 14-point, five-assist night.
Six different players scored at least 11 points for the bankers. The bankers deposited 14 of the 33 three-point shots taken were nearly flawless from the free-throw line, making 16 of 17 attempts.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was