The Yulon Dinos made it look easy in Game 2 of Taiwan's Super Basketball League championship series against Taiwan Beer, trouncing the men in green 92-62 at the Taipei Physical Education College Gymnasium on Sunday night.
Unlike Game 1, that required a valiant effort by the defending champions, the second game was all Dinos.
After a 19-8 run in the opening quarter that ended with the Dinos up 25-16, Taiwan Beer went scoreless for over six minutes, leading to an all-time playoff low of eight points in the second quarter to fall behind by 22 at the half (46-24).
PHOTO COURTESY OF SBL
Continuing their first half success in the third quarter, the Dinos increased their lead to as many as 32 before ending the game in a meaningless fourth quarter that was played mostly with reserves from both teams.
Game 1 hero Tseng Wen-ding of the Dinos waited no time establishing an inside presence, muscling his way in for several low-post baskets en route to a game-high 27-point, 11-rebound night.
He also punished the brewers with 9-for-10 shooting from the free throw line.
Chipping in 18 and 16 points, respectively, for the Dinos were guards Lee Hsueh-lin and Chou Shih-yuan, who fell into a nice shooting rhythm early in the game on a combined 11-for-17 effort.
Chen Chih-chung completely shut down Taiwan Beer's top scorer Lin "The Beast" Chih-jeh by holding him to a career-low three points in 26-plus minutes of play -- only managing 1-for-9 shooting from the floor.
Taiwan Beer suffered the lowest point total and the worst defeat in SBL playoff history.
Tigers 108, Bank of Taiwan 101
Powered by 19-for-36 shooting from beyond the three-point arc, the Dacin Tigers bombarded Bank of Taiwan to take Game 2 of the consolation round 108-101 to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five game series.
The bankers began with four deadly 3s that helped them cruise to a 27-24 lead after one quarter of play on the strength of forward Lin "Killer Bee" Chuin-fong's 12 points.
The Tigers then strung together seven 3s in an explosive second quarter that ended the first half with a 57-52 Tigers lead.
The seesaw battle continued in the third quarter with the financial wizards topping the Tigers rally with a 12-2 run to regain a brief five-point advantage before the Tigers closed out the quarter with a mini-run of their own to secure a two-point lead heading into the fourth quarter.
After both clubs traded early baskets in the final quarter, the Tigers tightened up their defense to gain an edge in the point total.
Three Tigers players scored 20 points or more in a balanced attack.
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
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