Chen "Airman" Hsin-an's surge in the fourth quarter -- accounting for 18 of his team's 30 points in the period -- propelled the Yulon Dinos to a 101-91 win over Taiwan Beer at the National Cheng Kung University in Tainan on Saturday evening.
Chen, the premier all-around player in the league, finished with a team-high 22 points and eight rebounds.
He rose to the occasion by sinking four 3-pointers in the final quarter to separate the defending champs from a Taiwan Beer squad that played his team even for three quarters en route to the thrilling victory.
PHOTO: HUANG CHIH-YUAN, TAIPEI TIMES
"I'd like to thank my teammates for setting good picks for me to free me up for the shots. That's why we were able to finish out strong in the end," Chen said after the game.
His Dinos needed the win to remain on pace with the Videoland Hunters, who also won on Saturday to share an identical 21-8 record heading into yesterday's season finale between the two clubs.
The winners of that game will claim the regular-season title and the top seed in the playoffs.
"It was a big win for us because it could mean playing the fourth seed as opposed to playing against the third-seed in the first round," Yulon coach Lee Yun-kuan said after the game.
The contest began with each team making a run during a high-scoring first quarter that ended in a 26-26 tie.
The beer crew then managed to edge past the Dinos in a physical second quarter to end the first half leading 47-46.
Unable to find any success against the opposing team's interior defense, both squads relied heavily on their perimeter game for the bulk of the scoring in a seesaw battle that had Taiwan Beer hanging onto the same one-point margin heading into the decisive fourth quarter.
That was when Chen decided to take matters into his own hands as he took over and single-handedly won the game for the Dinos in the end.
Five different players scored in double digits for the Dinos in the contest, with Chen leading the way and all-star center Tseng Wen-ding also chipping in 21 points to go along with his 15 boards.
As for the men in the familiar green uniforms, Lin "the Beast" Chih-jeh and Ho Sho-cheng scored 41 combined points in the first three quarters, enabling the brewers to keep pace with the Dinos.
However, they only managed a total of seven points in the final quarter.
Hunters 84, Antelopes 64
Having suffered a disheartening loss that eliminated them from the playoffs on Friday, the ETTV Antelopes were no match for the Videoland Hunters as they dropped an 84-64 decision to finish out the season with a record of 15 wins and 15 losses.
While the loss did not have any bearing on the Antelopes' postseason fate, the win meant everything to the Hunters because it put them in position to challenge the Dinos for the league title.
Jonathan Sanders played at his usual high standard with 24 points and 18 rebounds, both game-highs, to lead a Hunters attack that outplayed the Antelopes in every facet of the game for the crucial win.
Eagles 85, Tigers 66
Taking advantage of a Dacin squad that had secured a playoff berth the night before and thus wanted to rest their starters as much as possible, the Azio Eagles snuck past the Tigers 85-66 to finally end a 14-game losing skid against the Tigers.
Only two of the regular starters for the Tigers played in the game as coach Liu Jia-fa decided to rest top guns Tien Lei, Chang Chih-fon, and Lee Fong-yong to give his reserve players some floor time.
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