The Videoland Hunters snapped a three-game losing streak with a 75-70 triumph over Taiwan Beer at the Taipei Physical Education College Gymnasium on Saturday to retain third place in the standings.
Prior to the win the slumping Hunters had dropped five of their previous six games, including a 66-60 loss to a previously winless Azio Eagles squad on Feb. 10.
"This was a huge win for us," head coach Liu Chih-wei said after the game.
It took a clutch three-pointer by power forward Lee Chi-yi with 2:30 remaining to give the Hunters a rare lead in the second half at 71-70. That was all it took for them to pocket the win as Taiwan Beer failed to hit its next two three-point attempts, falling victim to another late-game collapse.
The contest began with the Hunters taking a 14-5 lead in the opening quarter on the strength of two long-range three-pointers by point guard Chen Hui before the beer crew returned the favor on Lin "the Beast" Chih-jeh's equally impressive showing to close out the quarter trailing the Hunters 19-16.
Neither team was able to take leads larger than four points in a classic seesaw battle that saw the Hunters hanging onto a slim 33-31 lead at the half.
Taiwan Beer closed the gap to tie the game at 50 heading into the decisive fourth quarter.
Jonathan Sanders then took control for the Hunters with 13 of his 25 points coming during the final quarter to rally his team for the win.
"He [Sanders] really cost us the game with the problems that he caused," Taiwan Beer skipper Yen Jia-hua said after the game.
As for Taiwan Beer, only two players managed to score in double-figures with Lin's 25 points and 10 boards and Ho's 21 points leading the way.
The setback for Taiwan Beer against the Hunters was their third straight of the season, assuring them a losing record in the five-game regular season series.
Eagles 89, Bank of Taiwan 76
Behind Jien Jia-hong's season-high 32 points, the Eagles poured in 50 second half points to storm past Bank of Taiwan.
Keeping the turnovers to only eight in the game was the key to victory for the Eagles with the Bankers' racking up 21.
After a closely fought first half that had the Bankers leading 41-39, the Eagles scored 25 third quarter points before finishing strong with 25 in the fourth to secure the win.
Even though the bankers finally came on in the closing minutes with a 10-1 run, it was too little too late as they suffered a tough defeat to drop to a 4-9 mark for the season.
In addition to Jien's monster game, Chang Yu-lin of the Eagles also chipped in 25 points.
As for the bankers, frontcourt tandem Lin "Killer Bee" Chuin-fong racked up 25 points while Yang Jing-min scored 21.
Tigers 90, Antelopes 78
A lopsided second quarter in favor of the Dacin Tigers during which they outscored the ETTV Antelopes by a 26-6 margin was the difference in the game as the Tigers cruised past the Antelopes for a 90-78 win.
After a slow start by Dacin that helped the Antelopes to an early 22-10 lead after one quarter of play, the momentum quickly shifted the Tigers' way as they held the Antelopes to six points in the second quarter to lead by eight at the half (36-28).
Both teams managed to find their groove offensively in a closely fought third quarter that saw the Antelopes come within four of the Tigers. Tigers' point guard Wang Chih-chuin then took matters into his own hands in the fourth quarter with three three-pointers to trigger a 17-4 run that put the game away.
"He [Wang] really stuck the shots that hurt us the most," Antelopes coach Chiou Da-chung said after the game.
Power forward Delvin Thomas' 25-point effort with 14 rebounds was the lone bright spot for the Antelopes as they dropped their third in a row.
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