Three straight victories in as many days over worthy opponents capped a perfect weekend for the Yulon Dinos last week, as they opened a two-game lead over second-placed Taiwan Beer in the latest standings.
After beating the ETTV Antelopes and Bank of Taiwan in convincing fashion last Friday and Saturday, the stage was set for the defending champs to take on a high-flying Dacin Tigers pack that had won five in a row heading into Sunday's primetime showdown at the Taipei Physical Education College Gymnasium.
And the sellout crowd of 4,000-plus was treated to exactly that with the Dinos showing unusual resilience by overcoming a 12-point halftime deficit to edge past the Tigers 77-76.
All-purpose forward Chen "Airman" Hsin-an's hard drive to the basket with 53.2 seconds remaining in the game gave the Dinos their first lead in the second half, a lead they would not relinquish in claiming the thrilling win.
Tigers team leader Tien Lei had the last chance to win the game with a 6m jumper in the closing seconds, but missed.
The contest began with the Dinos playing to a small 18-15 lead after the first quarter before the Tigers countered with point guard Wang Chih-chuin's six three-pointers in a 20-point second quarter to lead by a dozen at the half (44-32).
Whatever was said behind closed doors in the Yulon locker room during halftime worked wonders as the Dinos came out of the intermission playing like a different team, first halving the deficit to six with a 23-17 run in the third quarter before closing in on the Tigers for the kill in the final minute.
"This one will be remembered by many for a long time," Dinos head coach Lee Yun-kuan said after the game.
His troops really did an amazing job taming the cats, especially after the gang-bustering first half they had.
Reserve guard Chen Chih-chung's pair of clutch threes in the final quarter was the key to the Dinos' comeback. The veteran field general, who had been limited to only a handful games this season because of a nagging injury, shot a perfect 3-for-3 from behind the three-point arc and grabbed eight big rebounds in the Dinos win.
"He [Chen Chih-chung] really got us out of a hole with the long three's that he nailed," Lee said after the game.
Hunters 92, Bank of Taiwan 76
Jonathan Sanders had another field day against Bank of Taiwan on Sunday with 31 points and 15 rebounds, both game-highs, in guiding the Videoland Hunters to an impressive 92-76 win over the bankers.
The US power forward continued his dominance over the bankers' interior defense by greeting his prey with 16 points in the first quarter, well on pace for his incredible 31.7-point and 18.7-rebound average that he has amassed in the three games against the bankers thus far.
Fellow forwards Lee Wei-min and Lee Chi-yi also chipped in 18 and 15 points respectively for the victorious Hunters on the night, giving them a 1-1/2 game cushion over the fourth-placed Tigers in the latest standings.
Taking the tough loss, their sixth straight and twelfth in 13 tries, were the bankers who were simply outplayed by the Hunters in every facet of the game.
Taiwan Beer 88, Eagles 78
Taiwan Beer proved too much for the struggling Azio Eagles in an 88-78 decision on Sunday with solid performances from Lin "the Beast" Chih-jeh, Luo "the Natural" Hsin-liang, and Ho "Pretty Boy" Sho-cheng.
The iron triad for the beer crew accounted for over 70 percent of the scoring on the night with 62 points to make it literally impossible for the lowly Eagles to defend.
Chinese American Mao Jia-en's season-best 26 points were the lone highlight for the Eagles in the game as they dropped their fifth in a row to fall to a 2-17 mark for the year.
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