Falling short to their South Korean counterparts in overtime, the Yulon Dinos dropped Game 2 of the preliminaries at the 2007 Hualien Probation Basketball Invitational Tournament 77-71 on Thursday evening.
The rematch of last year's title game in which the Dinos beat the same squad from South Korea's Kyung Hee University 87-74 was all South Korea in the early going.
After a foul-filled, nine-point first quarter that saw South Korea take an 18-9 lead, the Dinos regained their usual style by playing an even second quarter to finish the first half down 25-34.
A relentless Dinos charge behind the strong play of Chen "Airman" Hsin-an and veteran guard Chen Chih-chung in the second half helped the three-time Super Basketball League champs close the gap and eventually tie the game at 63-all on a pair of clutch free throws by point guard Lee Hsueh-lin to send the contest into extra time.
But the absence of all-star center Tseng Wen-ding, who is out with an unspecified injury, ultimately showed as the Dinos proved no match for the dominant low-post play of South Korean center Kim Ming-soo, who muscled his way in for a key basket in the closing seconds of overtime to hand the Dinos the tough defeat.
Dmedia 82, Tigers 78
A second-half collapse by the Dacin Tigers turned a 17-point first-half lead into a 10-point second-half deficit before they finally yielded to Dmedia (formerly the ETTV Antelopes) in a bitter 82-78 loss on Thursday afternoon.
Fresh off a big win over the Ryukyu Golden Kings of Japan's BJ League in the opener on Wednesday night, the Tigers seemed well on their way to their second win in as many days with a strong first-half showing.
But the tide turned in a dramatic second half for Dmedia with point man Lin Guan-luen leading the way with 15 fourth-quarter points, including three nerve-racking three-pointers to deliver the biggest upset of the tournament thus far.
An infuriated Dacin skipper Chiou Da-tsung was so upset with his team's performance he kept them in the locker room for over 30 minutes following the disappointing loss to really let them have it.
Pure Youth 106, Malaysia 68 Taiwan Beer 85, Pure Youth 77
Pure Youth (formerly the Azio Eagles) cruised past Team Malaysia in the morning game of their day-night doubleheader in a 106-68 blowout before submitting to an overpowering Taiwan Beer crew on Thursday night to settle for a 1-1 split in second-day action.
The Taiwanese hosts gained the separation that many had expected against the overmatched Malaysians in the third quarter as they blew a 43-32 halftime lead wide open in the third quarter before running away with the easy victory.
As for the night game versus the defending SBL champs, Pure Youth simply could not withstand the big guns of Taiwan Beer, who were firing at them from all directions as they trailed by as many as 30 points before rallying in the final quarter to make it a more respectable loss in the end.
Afghanistan 96, Philippines 92
Afghanistan won their first game of the competition on Thursday following a tough last-second loss to Dmedia in their opener by edging past Team Philippines in a 96-92 decision to even their record at 1-1.
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