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SBL postseason action begins in Taipei tonight

The much awaited postseason will commence tonight with the Hunters taking on Taiwan Beer in Game 1 at 6:30pm before the Dinos meet their rivals the Dacin Tigers in the primetime spot at the Taipei Physical Education College Gymnasium.

As far as the evenness of play is concerned, the contest between the Hunters and the beermen will undoubtedly grab the attention of hoop lovers this weekend as the second-seeded Hunters take on the third-seeded Taiwan Beer team.

Even though on paper the Hunters hold an overwhelming advantage over the beermen with a dominant 4-1 record in their five regular-season games versus Taiwan Beer, the streaky beer crew could reverse that trend if its top scorer Lin "the Beast" Chih-jeh can rise to the occasion and lead his team to their second straight appearance in the championship series by containing the Hunters' top scorer and rebounder Jonathan Sanders.

Sanders has eight double-20s to his credit, and has demonstrated an incredible instinct for the ball and an uncanny ability to run on the open floor.

As for the series between the top-seeded Dinos and the Tigers, this could very well be a clean sweep for the defending champs with Chen "Airman" Hsin-an and guards Lee Hsueh-lin and Chen Chih-chung both ready and able to bombard the Tigers with a slew of threes that can put the game away in a hurry.

Also worth mentioning is all-star center Tseng Wen-ding, who racked up a career-high 48 points in the Dinos' thrilling triple-overtime win and is prepared to anchor a defense that will keep the low-post area cleared of the Tigers most of the time.

In order for the Tigers to have a chance in this series, top scorer Tien Lei must have a couple of colossal games to challenge the Dinos defense while defensive specialist Chang Chih-fong does his best in keeping Chen Hsin-an and Lee in check.

"It'll be exciting to see how they play us, since the pressure to win is on them [the Dinos]," Tigers skipper Liu Jia-fa said at a recent press conference in Taipei.

Also see story:
Fourth-quarter frenzies earn `Airman' SBL honor

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